Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Hanzhong, Shaanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Hanzhong Xiguan Airport (HZG), Hanzhong, Shaanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,638 miles (or 10,683 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 Hanzhong Xiguan 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 Hanzhong Xiguan 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):

• 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 the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• On 26 May 1972, President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty, which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the "National Command Authority." With work about 85 percent complete at Grand Forks, the United States chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site.
• 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.

Facts about Hanzhong Xiguan Airport (HZG):

• The airport was first built in June 1937 by the Republic of China government, to replace a smaller airport that was completed only 4 years before.
• The furthest airport from Hanzhong Xiguan Airport (HZG) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is nearly antipodal to Hanzhong Xiguan Airport (meaning Hanzhong Xiguan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Viña del Mar Airport), and is located 12,349 miles (19,873 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• The closest airport to Hanzhong Xiguan Airport (HZG) is Guangyuan Airport (GYS), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) WSW of HZG.
• The airport served as a military air base until civil services began in 1974.
• The airport has a runway that is 1,800 meters long and 30 meters wide, and a 600-meter terminal building.
• In addition to being known as "Hanzhong Xiguan Airport", other names for HZG include "汉中西关机场" and "Hànzhōng Xiguān Jīchǎng".