Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Drummond Island, Michigan, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to DRE:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- DRE Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about DRE
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to DRE
- List of Nearest Airports to DRE
- Map of Furthest Airports from DRE
- List of Furthest Airports from DRE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Drummond Island Airport (DRE), Drummond Island, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,547 miles (or 5,708 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 RAF Fairford and Drummond Island 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 RAF Fairford and Drummond Island Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | DRE / KDRM |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Drummond Island, Michigan, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 46°0'33"N by 83°44'38"W |
Area Served: | Drummond Island, Michigan |
Operator/Owner: | Drummond Township |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 668 feet (204 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from DRE |
More Information: | DRE Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
- Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
- The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- The furthest airport from RAF Fairford (FFD) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,898 miles (19,148 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
Facts about Drummond Island Airport (DRE):
- Because of Drummond Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 668 feet, planes can take off or land at Drummond Island 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 Drummond Island Airport (DRE) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) WNW of DRE.
- Drummond Island Airport (DRE) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Drummond Island Airport (DRE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,142 miles (17,931 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- In addition to being known as "Drummond Island Airport", another name for DRE is "DRM".