Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and St. Helens, Tasmania, Australia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to HLS:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- HLS Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about HLS
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to HLS
- List of Nearest Airports to HLS
- Map of Furthest Airports from HLS
- List of Furthest Airports from HLS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and St Helens Airport (HLS), St. Helens, Tasmania, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,275 miles (or 14,926 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Grand Forks Air Force Base and St Helens Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Grand Forks Air Force Base and St Helens Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RDR / KRDR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°57'39"N by 97°24'3"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RDR |
More Information: | RDR Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | HLS / YSTH |
Airport Name: | St Helens Airport |
Location: | St. Helens, Tasmania, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°20'12"S by 148°16'54"E |
Operator/Owner: | Break O'Day Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 158 feet (48 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from HLS |
More Information: | HLS Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- The closest airport to Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of RDR.
- SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
- The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
- The furthest airport from Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,504 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
- Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
- The 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
- In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
Facts about St Helens Airport (HLS):
- The closest airport to St Helens Airport (HLS) is Launceston Airport (LST), which is located 57 miles (92 kilometers) WSW of HLS.
- The furthest airport from St Helens Airport (HLS) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is nearly antipodal to St Helens Airport (meaning St Helens Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Corvo Airport), and is located 12,317 miles (19,823 kilometers) away in Corvo Island, Azores, Portugal.
- Because of St Helens Airport's relatively low elevation of 158 feet, planes can take off or land at St Helens Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- St Helens Airport (HLS) currently has only 1 runway.