Nonstop flight route between Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SMD to RDR:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- SMD Airport Information
- RDR Airport Information
- Facts about SMD
- Facts about RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMD
- List of Nearest Airports to SMD
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMD
- List of Furthest Airports from SMD
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Smith Field (SMD), Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 764 miles (or 1,229 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 relatively short distance between Smith Field and Grand Forks Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMD / KSMD |
| Airport Name: | Smith Field |
| Location: | Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 41°8'35"N by 85°9'10"W |
| Area Served: | Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 835 feet (255 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 4 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SMD |
| More Information: | SMD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | RDR / KRDR |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 47°57'39"N by 97°24'3"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from RDR |
| More Information: | RDR Maps & Info |
Facts about Smith Field (SMD):
- Smith Field (SMD) has 4 runways.
- The furthest airport from Smith Field (SMD) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,224 miles (18,064 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Because of Smith Field's relatively low elevation of 835 feet, planes can take off or land at Smith Field 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.
- Federal New Deal employment programs of the Great Depression further upgraded the airfield.
- The War Department signed a $1/year lease for the south side property and invited the community to suggest a name.
- The federal government’s anticipation of World War II and old Baer Field’s role in the pioneer airmail service brought the U.S.
- The old Baer Field, now renamed Smith Field, would remain Fort Wayne’s civil airport through World War II, and has since served general aviation.
- The closest airport to Smith Field (SMD) is Fort Wayne International Airport (FWA), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) S of SMD.
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
- 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.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- 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.
- In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
- 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.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
