Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Khovd, Mongolia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Khovd Airport (HVD), Khovd, Mongolia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,787 miles (or 9,313 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 Khovd 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 Khovd Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
• 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.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• On 1 September 1958, the Strategic Air Command established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks as part of its plan to disperse its B-52 heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.

Facts about Khovd Airport (HVD):

• The closest airport to Khovd Airport (HVD) is Ölgii Airport (ULG), which is located 106 miles (170 kilometers) NW of HVD.
• Khovd Airport (HVD) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Khovd Airport", another name for HVD is "Ховд нисэх буудал".
• The furthest airport from Khovd Airport (HVD) is Cochrane Airfield (LGR), which is located 11,701 miles (18,831 kilometers) away in Cochrane, Chile.
• Khovd Airport handled 31,926 passengers last year.
• Because of Khovd Airport's high elevation of 4,898 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HVD. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HVD a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.