Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Okinawa, Japan:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to OKA:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- OKA Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about OKA
- 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 OKA
- List of Nearest Airports to OKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from OKA
- List of Furthest Airports from OKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Naha Airport (OKA), Okinawa, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,602 miles (or 10,624 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 Naha Airport, 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 Naha Airport. 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: | OKA / ROAH |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Okinawa, Japan |
GPS Coordinates: | 26°11'44"N by 127°38'44"E |
Area Served: | Naha, Okinawa, Japan |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 11 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from OKA |
More Information: | OKA Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
- 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.
- Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
- 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.
- Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
- 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.
Facts about Naha Airport (OKA):
- The furthest airport from Naha Airport (OKA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Naha Airport (meaning Naha Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
- The airport is served by the Okinawa Monorail which carries passengers from Naha-kūkō Station to the center of Naha, and to the terminal at Shuri Station near Shuri Castle.
- Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972.
- In addition to being known as "Naha Airport", other names for OKA include "那覇空港" and "Naha Kūkō".
- Naha Airport (OKA) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Naha Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Naha Airport 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.
- The closest airport to Naha Airport (OKA) is Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) NE of OKA.
- The airport was a popular connecting point between Taipei and Shanghai prior to the opening of direct flights between mainland China and Taiwan.