Nonstop flight route between Rodrigues Island, Mauritius and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), Rodrigues Island, Mauritius and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,211 miles (or 16,433 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 Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport and Grand Forks Air Force Base, 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 Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport and Grand Forks Air Force Base. 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 Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG):

• Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG) is Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU), which is located 371 miles (598 kilometers) W of RRG.
• The furthest airport from Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG) is Ciudad Constitución Airport (CUA), which is located 11,950 miles (19,232 kilometers) away in Ciudad Constitución, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
• Because of Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport's relatively low elevation of 95 feet, planes can take off or land at Sir Gaëtan Duval 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.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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 DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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.
• 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.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.