Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Smyrna, Tennessee, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Smyrna Airport (MQY), Smyrna, Tennessee, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 995 miles (or 1,601 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 relatively short distance between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Smyrna Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".

Facts about Smyrna Airport (MQY):

• Smyrna Airport (MQY) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Smyrna Airport (MQY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Smyrna Airport's relatively low elevation of 543 feet, planes can take off or land at Smyrna 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.
• This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a reliever airport for Nashville International Airport, which is located twelve nautical miles to the north.
• Smyrna Airport is a public general aviation and military use airport located two nautical miles north of the central business district of Smyrna, a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States.
• The airport has an operational control tower twelve hours a day, precision instrument landing system approaches to Runway 14 and Runway 32, and DoD Into-Plane Contract jet fuel for military and other US Government aircraft provided by the on-site civilian fixed base operator, Smyrna Air Center.
• The closest airport to Smyrna Airport (MQY) is Nashville International Airport (BNA), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) NW of MQY.