Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ratmalana, Sri Lanka:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to RML:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- RML Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about RML
- 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 RML
- List of Nearest Airports to RML
- Map of Furthest Airports from RML
- List of Furthest Airports from RML
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ratmalana Airport (RML), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,648 miles (or 13,918 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 Ratmalana 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 Ratmalana 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: | RML / VCCC |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Ratmalana, Sri Lanka |
GPS Coordinates: | 6°49'19"N by 79°53'10"E |
Area Served: | Colombo |
Operator/Owner: | Sri Lankan Government |
Airport Type: | Public / Military |
Elevation: | 16 feet (5 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from RML |
More Information: | RML Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- 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.
- In May 2005, DoD's 2005 BRAC recommended GFAFB for realignment.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
- Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
Facts about Ratmalana Airport (RML):
- In addition to being known as "Ratmalana Airport", another name for RML is "රත්මලාන ගුවන්තොටුපළஇரத்மலானை விமான நிலைய".
- In 1934 the State Council of Ceylon made a decision to construct an aerodrome within reach of the capital city of Colombo and decided on Ratmalana as the best site.
- Ratmalana Airport (RML) currently has only 1 runway.
- There are currently 2 terminals at the airport.
- The furthest airport from Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,628 miles (18,713 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
- In the 1950s, BOAC flew Canadair Argonauts from Ratmalana to London.
- Ratmalana airport was declared open for small international commercial flights.
- Because of Ratmalana Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Ratmalana 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 Ratmalana Airport (RML) is Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of RML.