Nonstop flight route between La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between La Palma Airport (SPC), La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,320 miles (or 6,952 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 La Palma 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 La Palma 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 La Palma Airport (SPC):

• La Palma Airport (SPC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to La Palma Airport (SPC) is La Gomera Airport (GMZ), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) SE of SPC.
• The furthest airport from La Palma Airport (SPC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to La Palma Airport (meaning La Palma Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,161 miles (19,570 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
• Because of La Palma Airport's relatively low elevation of 108 feet, planes can take off or land at La Palma 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):

• 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.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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 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.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.