Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and San Tomé, Venezuela:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and San Tomé Airport (SOM), San Tomé, Venezuela would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,319 miles (or 5,341 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 San Tomé 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 San Tomé 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):

• 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.
• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about San Tomé Airport (SOM):

• The closest airport to San Tomé Airport (SOM) is El Tigre Airport (ELX), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SSW of SOM.
• In addition to being known as "San Tomé Airport", another name for SOM is "Aeropuerto Don Edmundo Barrios".
• The furthest airport from San Tomé Airport (SOM) is Selaparang Airport (AMI), which is nearly antipodal to San Tomé Airport (meaning San Tomé Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Selaparang Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,964 kilometers) away in Mataram, Indonesia.
• San Tomé Airport (SOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of San Tomé Airport's relatively low elevation of 837 feet, planes can take off or land at San Tomé 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.