Nonstop flight route between St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Samedan Airport (SMV), St. Moritz / Samedan, Switzerland and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,580 miles (or 7,371 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 Samedan 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 Samedan 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 Samedan Airport (SMV):

• The airport was used as one of the locations for filming "Where Eagles Dare".
• Because of Samedan Airport's high elevation of 5,600 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SMV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SMV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airport has one runway designated 03/21 with an asphalt pavement measuring 1800 x 40 metres.
• The furthest airport from Samedan Airport (SMV) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Samedan Airport (meaning Samedan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,075 miles (19,433 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• At an elevation of 1,707 metres, it is one of the highest airports in Europe.
• The closest airport to Samedan Airport (SMV) is Lugano Airport (LUG), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) SW of SMV.
• Samedan Airport (SMV) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Samedan Airport", another name for SMV is "Flughafen Engadin".

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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.
• The 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
• 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".
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• On 3 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.