Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Oamaru Airport (OAM), Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,465 miles (or 13,622 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 Oamaru 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 Oamaru 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".
• 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 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Oamaru Airport (OAM):

• The North Otago Aero Club has been operating from the Oamaru Airport since 1956, and offers charter flights to Dunedin, Christchurch and Queenstown International Airports.
• A new sealed runway at the Oamaru Airport was passed as fully operational in March 1975.
• On 10 December 1960 South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand commenced a Douglas DC-3 service linking Oamaru north to Timaru and Christchurch and south to Alexandra and Invercargill.
• The closest airport to Oamaru Airport (OAM) is Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) N of OAM.
• The furthest airport from Oamaru Airport (OAM) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Oamaru Airport (meaning Oamaru Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,318 miles (19,825 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• Regular scheduled services were withdrawn in 1989.
• Oamaru Airport (OAM) has 3 runways.
• Because of Oamaru Airport's relatively low elevation of 99 feet, planes can take off or land at Oamaru 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.