Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Northway, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from RDR to ORT:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- ORT Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about ORT
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to ORT
- List of Nearest Airports to ORT
- Map of Furthest Airports from ORT
- List of Furthest Airports from ORT
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Northway Airport (ORT), Northway, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,971 miles (or 3,173 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 Northway Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RDR / KRDR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°57'39"N by 97°24'3"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RDR |
More Information: | RDR Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | ORT / PAOR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Northway, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 62°57'39"N by 141°55'41"W |
Area Served: | Northway, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | Alaska DOT&PF - Northern Region |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1715 feet (523 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from ORT |
More Information: | ORT Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- 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.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
- On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Northway Airport (ORT):
- The furthest airport from Northway Airport (ORT) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,363 miles (16,678 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Northway Airport (ORT) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Northway Airport (ORT) is Tok Airport (TKJ), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NW of ORT.
- In addition to being known as "Northway Airport", another name for ORT is "(former Northway Airfield)".