Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Homer, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to HOM:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- HOM Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about HOM
- 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 HOM
- List of Nearest Airports to HOM
- Map of Furthest Airports from HOM
- List of Furthest Airports from HOM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Homer Airport (HOM), Homer, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,561 miles (or 7,340 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 Homer 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 Homer 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: | HOM / PAHO |
Airport Name: | Homer Airport |
Location: | Homer, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 59°38'44"N by 151°28'36"W |
Area Served: | Homer, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF - Central Region |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 84 feet (26 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from HOM |
More Information: | HOM Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command would be based in the UK.
- Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
- 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 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
- 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 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.
- RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
Facts about Homer Airport (HOM):
- The furthest airport from Homer Airport (HOM) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,659 miles (17,154 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- The closest airport to Homer Airport (HOM) is Seldovia Airport (SOV), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) SSW of HOM.
- Homer Airport (HOM) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Homer Airport's relatively low elevation of 84 feet, planes can take off or land at Homer 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.
- in November 1987 a Beechcraft 1900C operated by Ryan air crashed while arriving from Kodiak, killing all 18 passengers and crew on board.