Nonstop flight route between Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Braintree, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GOM to WXF:
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- About this route
- GOM Airport Information
- WXF Airport Information
- Facts about GOM
- Facts about WXF
- Map of Nearest Airports to GOM
- List of Nearest Airports to GOM
- Map of Furthest Airports from GOM
- List of Furthest Airports from GOM
- Map of Nearest Airports to WXF
- List of Nearest Airports to WXF
- Map of Furthest Airports from WXF
- List of Furthest Airports from WXF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Goma Airport (GOM), Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo and MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF), Braintree, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,067 miles (or 6,546 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 Goma Airport and MDPGA Wethersfield, 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 Goma Airport and MDPGA Wethersfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GOM / FZNA |
Airport Name: | Goma Airport |
Location: | Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
GPS Coordinates: | 1°40'11"S by 29°14'17"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5089 feet (1,551 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GOM |
More Information: | GOM Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WXF / EGVT |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Braintree, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°58'26"N by 0°30'21"E |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
Airport Type: | Military airfield, private airfield |
Elevation: | 322 feet (98 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from WXF |
More Information: | WXF Maps & Info |
Facts about Goma Airport (GOM):
- At 17:55 local time on 4 March 2013, a Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Fokker 50 from Lodja crashed short of landing in heavy rain, into a residential area.
- Initially built with a paved 3 km runway and a large terminal and apron, the airport has not recovered from the 2002 eruption of the volcano Nyiragongo, 14 km to the north.
- The furthest airport from Goma Airport (GOM) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,981 miles (19,282 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
- Goma Airport (GOM) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Goma Airport (GOM) is Gisenyi Airport (GYI), which is located only 2 miles (2 kilometers) ESE of GOM.
- Because of Goma Airport's high elevation of 5,089 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GOM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GOM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
Facts about MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF):
- In addition to being known as "MDPGA Wethersfield", another name for WXF is "RAF Wethersfield".
- The closure of US bases in France forced the opening of RAF Greenham Common under 20th TFW management to handle personnel overflow beginning in January 1967.
- The furthest airport from MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,856 miles (19,080 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Soon after the Americans departed for France, Wethersfield was returned to RAF control, becoming the home for 196 and 299 Squadrons, 38 Group, RAF Bomber Command.
- The 819th, along with the 2166th Communications Squadron, were the main units at Wethersfeld until the USAF returned the base to the British in 1990 due to budget cutbacks.
- The closest airport to MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is London Stansted Airport (STN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) WSW of WXF.
- MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) has 3 runways.
- The fighter squadrons of the 20th had been in constant rotation since the arrival of the wing at Wethersfield in 1952.
- On 21 September the 416th moved to their Advanced Landing Ground at Melun/Villaroche France.
- Because of MDPGA Wethersfield's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at MDPGA Wethersfield 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.