Nonstop flight route between McKinleyville, California, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV), McKinleyville, California, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,160 miles (or 8,304 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 Arcata/Eureka Airport and RAF Fairford, 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 Arcata/Eureka Airport and RAF Fairford. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV):

• The furthest airport from Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,222 miles (18,059 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The airport is under the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission and major changes to the airport such as rezoning or fencing in the airport require its approval.
• In addition to being known as "Arcata/Eureka Airport", another name for ACV is "Arcata Airport".
• In 2013 SkyWest Airlines Embraer EMB-120s were ACV's only scheduled flights.
• Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) has 2 runways.
• Because of Arcata/Eureka Airport's relatively low elevation of 222 feet, planes can take off or land at Arcata/Eureka 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 Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) is Murray Field (EKA), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) S of ACV.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.