Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to PDL:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- PDL Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about PDL
- 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 PDL
- List of Nearest Airports to PDL
- Map of Furthest Airports from PDL
- List of Furthest Airports from PDL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and João Paulo II Airport (PDL), Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,567 miles (or 5,740 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 João Paulo II 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 João Paulo II Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
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: | PDL / LPPD |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°44'30"N by 25°41'52"W |
Area Served: | Ponta Delgada |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Portugal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 259 feet (79 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from PDL |
More Information: | PDL Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (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.
- In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
- Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
- 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.
- On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- 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 the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
- On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations.
Facts about João Paulo II Airport (PDL):
- The closest airport to João Paulo II Airport (PDL) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) SSE of PDL.
- João Paulo II Airport handled 928,801 passengers last year.
- The furthest airport from João Paulo II Airport (PDL) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to João Paulo II Airport (meaning João Paulo II Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,188 miles (19,615 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
- João Paulo II Airport (PDL) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "João Paulo II Airport", another name for PDL is "Aeroporto João Paulo II".
- Because of João Paulo II Airport's relatively low elevation of 259 feet, planes can take off or land at João Paulo II 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.