Nonstop flight route between Stuttgart, Germany and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS), Stuttgart, Germany and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,447 miles (or 7,156 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 Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof 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 Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof 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 Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS):

• In 1910, the Royal Württemberg State Railways underwrote an architectural contest, which saw 70 participants.
• The furthest airport from Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (meaning Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,001 miles (19,313 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The station building was constructed using reinforced concrete, which was then covered with roughly hewn shell limestone ashlar, sourced from the area around Crailsheim.
• The closest airport to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS) is Stuttgart Airport (STR), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SSE of ZWS.
• The underground station for the U-Bahn and Strassenbahn, called Hauptbahnhof, went into operation on 9 April 1976.
• Due to increasing railway traffic, the first building was replaced by new construction in the same spot in the 1860s.
• As part of the Stuttgart 21 project, the two wings were demolished.
• The present Hauptbahnhof was built between 1914 and 1928, only about 500 meters east of the former station, on the Arnulf-Klett-Platz.
• Until 1922, the central station was located on the Schlosstrasse, near the Schlossplatz.
• Because of Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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.
• 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.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.