Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Mönchengladbach, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL), Mönchengladbach, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,244 miles (or 6,830 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 Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach 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 Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach 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 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.
• 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 Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Grand Forks Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of Grand Forks.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• 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 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 Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL):

• Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,906 miles (19,161 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• From 1996 until 2002 the Belgian airline VLM operated direct services to London City Airport with Fokker 50 aeroplanes providing up to 24 weekly flights in each direction.
• The British Army of the Rhine undertook an exercise in 1955, in accord with the then NATO-Strategy of quick reaction.
• In addition to being known as "Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport", another name for MGL is "Verkehrslandeplatz Mönchengladbach".
• Because of Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport's relatively low elevation of 125 feet, planes can take off or land at Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach 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 Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL) is Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) ENE of MGL.