Nonstop flight route between Sumbawanga, Tanzania and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sumbawanga Airport (SUT), Sumbawanga, Tanzania and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,384 miles (or 13,493 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 Sumbawanga 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 Sumbawanga 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 Sumbawanga Airport (SUT):

• Sumbawanga Airport (SUT) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Sumbawanga Airport", another name for SUT is "Uwanja wa Ndege wa Sumbawanga  (Swahili)".
• The closest airport to Sumbawanga Airport (SUT) is Mbala Airport (MMQ), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) SSW of SUT.
• Because of Sumbawanga Airport's high elevation of 5,920 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SUT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SUT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Sumbawanga Airport (SUT) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,695 miles (18,822 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Sumbawanga Airport handled 806 passengers last year.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• On 3 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
• 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 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• 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.
• With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command, then came under Air Force Space Command in 1993.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.