Nonstop flight route between Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ust-Ilimsk (UIK), Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,019 miles (or 8,077 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 Ust-Ilimsk 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 Ust-Ilimsk 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 Ust-Ilimsk (UIK):

• Ust-Ilimsk (UIK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Ust-Ilimsk (UIK) is Bratsk Airport (BTK), which is located 126 miles (203 kilometers) SSW of UIK.
• The furthest airport from Ust-Ilimsk (UIK) is Ushuaia International Airport (USH), which is nearly antipodal to Ust-Ilimsk (meaning Ust-Ilimsk is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ushuaia International Airport), and is located 12,021 miles (19,346 kilometers) away in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

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 May 2005, DoD's 2005 BRAC recommended GFAFB for realignment.
• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• 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.
• 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.