Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Vilyuysk, Sakha Republic, Russia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Vilyuisk Airport (VYI), Vilyuysk, Sakha Republic, Russia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,431 miles (or 7,131 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 Vilyuisk 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 Vilyuisk 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• 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 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• 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.

Facts about Vilyuisk Airport (VYI):

• Because of Vilyuisk Airport's relatively low elevation of 361 feet, planes can take off or land at Vilyuisk 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 furthest airport from Vilyuisk Airport (VYI) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is nearly antipodal to Vilyuisk Airport (meaning Vilyuisk Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport), and is located 12,327 miles (19,838 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Vilyuisk Airport (VYI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Vilyuisk Airport", another name for VYI is "Аэропорт Вилюйск".
• The closest airport to Vilyuisk Airport (VYI) is Verkhnevilyuysk Airport (VHV), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) WSW of VYI.