Nonstop flight route between Windhoek, Namibia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH), Windhoek, Namibia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,496 miles (or 13,674 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 Hosea Kutako 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 Hosea Kutako 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 Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH):

• Although Hosea Kutako International Airport is the main international airport of Namibia, the only direct international flights are to Angola, Botswana, Germany, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• The closest airport to Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) is Eros Airport (ERS), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) WSW of WDH.
• Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is nearly antipodal to Hosea Kutako International Airport (meaning Hosea Kutako International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from PMRF Barking Sands), and is located 12,258 miles (19,727 kilometers) away in Kekaha, Hawaii, United States.
• Hosea Kutako International Airport is the main international airport serving the Namibian capital city of Windhoek.
• Because of Hosea Kutako International Airport's high elevation of 5,640 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at WDH. Combined with a high temperature, this could make WDH a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Hosea Kutako International Airport handled 681,317 passengers last year.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.