Nonstop flight route between Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States and Great Falls, Montana, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VLE to GFA:
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- About this route
- VLE Airport Information
- GFA Airport Information
- Facts about VLE
- Facts about GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to VLE
- List of Nearest Airports to VLE
- Map of Furthest Airports from VLE
- List of Furthest Airports from VLE
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Valle Airport (VLE), Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States and Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 821 miles (or 1,321 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 relatively short distance between Valle Airport and Malmstrom Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | VLE / |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 35°38'58"N by 112°8'30"W |
| Area Served: | Valle, Arizona |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 5999 feet (1,828 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from VLE |
| More Information: | VLE Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
| More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Facts about Valle Airport (VLE):
- Valle Airport covers an area of 330 acres at an elevation of 5,999 feet above mean sea level.
- In addition to being known as "Valle Airport", another name for VLE is "40G".
- The Valle branch of Planes of Fame opened in 1995 because the Chino collection had grown so greatly an additional facility was needed.
- Valle Airport (VLE) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Valle Airport (VLE) is Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) N of VLE.
- Because of Valle Airport's high elevation of 5,999 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at VLE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make VLE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Valle Airport (VLE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,305 miles (18,194 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- Aircraft shipments to the Soviet Union stopped in September 1945, when World War II ended, with approximately 8,000 aircraft having been processed in a 21-month period.
- In 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.
- The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Following World War II, Great Falls Army Air Base played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era.
- The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
- Originally named Great Falls Army Air Base, later Great Falls Air Force Base, the facility was renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base on 1 October 1955 in honor of Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom.
- In November 1942, a survey team evaluated an area near the Green Mill Dance Club and Rainbow Dam Road approximately six miles east of Great Falls.
- Malmstrom AFB is one of three US Air Force Bases that maintains and operates the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- With the development of the three-stage, solid-fuel Minuteman I missile in the late 1950s SAC began searching for sites to deploy this revolutionary weapon.
