Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Rousse, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ruse Airport (ROU), Rousse, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,234 miles (or 8,423 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 Ruse 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 Ruse 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.

Facts about Ruse Airport (ROU):

• Because of Ruse Airport's relatively low elevation of 574 feet, planes can take off or land at Ruse 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 Ruse Airport (ROU) is Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport (GOZ), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSW of ROU.
• The government of Bulgaria decided to grant concession of some of its international airports, but the first procedure in late 2007 wasn't successful, although there was interest from the Swiss investor Ferdinand Prisi and the Bulgarian company Prista Oil.
• In addition to being known as "Ruse Airport", other names for ROU include "Летище Русе" and "Letishte Ruse".
• The furthest airport from Ruse Airport (ROU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,317 miles (18,212 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Ruse Airport (ROU) currently has only 1 runway.