Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Kili Island, Marshall Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Kili Airport (KIO), Kili Island, Marshall Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,089 miles (or 9,799 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 Kili 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 Kili 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):

• 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.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• 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.
• 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.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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 Kili Airport (KIO):

• In addition to being known as "Kili Airport", another name for KIO is "Q51".
• Kili Airport (KIO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kili Airport (KIO) is Jaluit Airport (UIT), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) ENE of KIO.
• The furthest airport from Kili Airport (KIO) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Kili Airport (meaning Kili Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,147 miles (19,548 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
• Because of Kili Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Kili 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.