Nonstop flight route between Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Porterville, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield (PTV), Porterville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,296 miles (or 8,523 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 Brize Norton and Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield, 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 Brize Norton and Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield. 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 RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):

• By the 1950s Cold War tension was escalating and the United States envisaged stationing nuclear bombers in the United Kingdom as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The Hercules fleet at RAF Lyneham officially moved to Brize Norton on 1 July 2011.
• On 23 May 2001 the RAF's first C-17 arrived at Brize Norton, one of six to be delivered to 99 Squadron.
• With the closure of RAF Lyneham taking place in late 2011, the repatriation of British personnel was relocated to Brize Norton on 8 September 2011.
• During the 2003 Iraq War four anti-war protesters managed to access the main runway in an attempt to prevent aircraft taking off.
• The station is home to the Administrative Wing, Airport of Embarkation Wing, Depth Support Wing, Forward Support Wing and Operations Wing.

Facts about Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield (PTV):

• Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield (PTV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was opened in September 1942 as Porterville Army Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Fourth Air Force as a training base during World War II.
• The closest airport to Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield (PTV) is Mefford Field (TLR), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) WNW of PTV.
• Because of Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 442 feet, planes can take off or land at Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield 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 furthest airport from Porterville Municipal AirportPorterville Army Airfield (PTV) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,368 miles (18,294 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.