Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Castro, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Gamboa Airport (WCA), Castro, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,413 miles (or 10,321 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 Gamboa 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 Gamboa 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):

• 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.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Gamboa Airport (WCA):

• The furthest airport from Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Wuhai Airport (WUA), which is nearly antipodal to Gamboa Airport (meaning Gamboa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuhai Airport), and is located 12,248 miles (19,711 kilometers) away in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, China.
• The closest airport to Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Mocopulli Airport (MHC), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NNE of WCA.
• In addition to being known as "Gamboa Airport", another name for WCA is "Aeródromo Gamboa".
• Gamboa Airport (WCA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Gamboa Airport's relatively low elevation of 187 feet, planes can take off or land at Gamboa 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.