Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Polokwane, South Africa:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to PTG:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- PTG Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about PTG
- 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 PTG
- List of Nearest Airports to PTG
- Map of Furthest Airports from PTG
- List of Furthest Airports from PTG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Polokwane International Airport (PTG), Polokwane, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,112 miles (or 14,665 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 Polokwane International 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 Polokwane International 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: | PTG / FAPP |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Polokwane, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 23°50'43"S by 29°27'30"E |
Area Served: | Polokwane (Pietersburg), South Africa |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4076 feet (1,242 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from PTG |
More Information: | PTG Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
- During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
- Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
- 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.
- Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
- During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
- 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.
- 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 Polokwane International Airport (PTG):
- In addition to being known as "Polokwane International Airport", another name for PTG is "Gateway International Airport".
- Polokwane International Airport (PTG) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Polokwane International Airport (PTG) is Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS), which is located 106 miles (171 kilometers) ESE of PTG.
- The furthest airport from Polokwane International Airport (PTG) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Polokwane International Airport (meaning Polokwane International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,031 miles (19,362 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- Because of Polokwane International Airport's high elevation of 4,076 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PTG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PTG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.