Nonstop flight route between Tulcán, Ecuador and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport (TUA), Tulcán, Ecuador and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,464 miles (or 5,575 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 Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International 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 Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International 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 Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport (TUA):

• Because of Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport's high elevation of 9,649 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at TUA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make TUA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport (TUA) is San Luis Airport (IPI), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of TUA.
• The furthest airport from Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport (TUA) is Depati Parbo Airport (KRC), which is nearly antipodal to Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport (meaning Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Depati Parbo Airport), and is located 12,331 miles (19,845 kilometers) away in Kerinci, Indonesia.
• Teniente Coronel Luis A Mantilla International Airport (TUA) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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 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 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 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 March 1995, the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation.
• 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.