Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Lorient, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT), Lorient, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,059 miles (or 6,533 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 Lorient South Brittany 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 Lorient South Brittany 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
• 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 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.

Facts about Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT):

• In addition to being known as "Lorient South Brittany Airport", another name for LRT is "Aéroport de Lorient Bretagne Sud".
• The furthest airport from Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT) is Oamaru Airport (OAM), which is nearly antipodal to Lorient South Brittany Airport (meaning Lorient South Brittany Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Oamaru Airport), and is located 12,112 miles (19,493 kilometers) away in Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand.
• Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT) has 2 runways.
• Because of Lorient South Brittany Airport's relatively low elevation of 160 feet, planes can take off or land at Lorient South Brittany 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.
• The closest airport to Lorient South Brittany Airport (LRT) is Meucon Airport (VNE), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) E of LRT.