Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to HIR:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- HIR Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about HIR
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to HIR
- List of Nearest Airports to HIR
- Map of Furthest Airports from HIR
- List of Furthest Airports from HIR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR), Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,281 miles (or 11,717 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field), 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field). You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RDR / KRDR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°57'39"N by 97°24'3"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RDR |
More Information: | RDR Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | HIR / AGGH |
Airport Name: | Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) |
Location: | Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 9°25'41"S by 160°3'16"E |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 28 feet (9 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from HIR |
More Information: | HIR Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
- 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.
- Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR):
- Because of Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field)'s relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) 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.
- Control of the airstrip was the focus of months of fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign during World War II.
- Henderson Field was named for Marine Major Lofton Henderson, commanding officer of VMSB-241 who was killed in action at the Battle of Midway while leading his squadron into action against the Japanese carrier forces thereby becoming the first Marine aviator to perish during the battle.
- The furthest airport from Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) is Cap Skirring Airport (CSK), which is nearly antipodal to Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (meaning Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap Skirring Airport), and is located 12,138 miles (19,533 kilometers) away in Cap Skirring, Senegal.
- Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Honiara International Airport (formerly Henderson Field) (HIR) is Mbambanakira Airport (MBU), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) SSW of HIR.