Nonstop flight route between Gweru, Zimbabwe and Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GWE to RCS:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- GWE Airport Information
- RCS Airport Information
- Facts about GWE
- Facts about RCS
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWE
- List of Nearest Airports to GWE
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWE
- List of Furthest Airports from GWE
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCS
- List of Nearest Airports to RCS
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCS
- List of Furthest Airports from RCS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), Gweru, Zimbabwe and Rochester Airport (RCS), Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,204 miles (or 8,375 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base and Rochester 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base and Rochester Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GWE / FVTL |
Airport Name: | Gweru-Thornhill Air Base |
Location: | Gweru, Zimbabwe |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°26'11"S by 29°51'42"E |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 4680 feet (1,426 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GWE |
More Information: | GWE Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCS / EGTO |
Airport Name: | Rochester Airport |
Location: | Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°21'6"N by 0°30'10"E |
Operator/Owner: | Rochester Airport Ltd. |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 426 feet (130 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from RCS |
More Information: | RCS Maps & Info |
Facts about Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE):
- Because of Gweru-Thornhill Air Base's high elevation of 4,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GWE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GWE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Masvingo Airport (MVZ), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) ESE of GWE.
- Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (meaning Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
Facts about Rochester Airport (RCS):
- The closest airport to Rochester Airport (RCS) is London Southend Airport (SEN), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNE of RCS.
- The furthest airport from Rochester Airport (RCS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,897 miles (19,146 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The inaugural flight into Rochester was from Gravesend, with John Parker flying their Short Scion, G-ACJI, powered by a Pobjoy engine.
- In 1999 a group of aviators and local businessmen at Rochester formed a company dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the long tradition of aviation at Rochester Airport, its service to the local community and for its longer term preservation.
- Rochester Airport (RCS) has 3 runways.
- Short Brothers continued to build seaplanes on the Esplanade at Rochester supplying the growing market for flying boats.
- Because of Rochester Airport's relatively low elevation of 426 feet, planes can take off or land at Rochester 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.
- Passenger flights to and from the continent expanded in the 1950s and 60's using Douglas DC-3s and de Havilland Doves operated by Channel Airways but with stringent requirement of the Civil Aviation Authority, operators had to re-locate from Rochester.
- Rochester airport was bombed heavily during the war by a wing of Dornier Do 17s on 15 August 1940.