Nonstop flight route between Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,267 miles (or 5,257 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 Westover Air Reserve Base 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 Westover Air Reserve Base 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 Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• ADC established a more substantial presence in July 1957 when the 4729th Air Defense Group was activated.
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• With the end of World War II, Westover Field was designated as a permanent United States Army Air Force installation in 1945 and was not inactivated as most of the wartime temporary training airfields were in the fall of 1945.
• In 1942 Westover Field was training center for anti-submarine, engineering, chemical platoons, bomber and fighter groups.
• Since the Constructing Quartermaster had already planned the base, the first permanent masonry buildings were constructed east of the airfield to those designs, which were intended to be lasting and attractive.
• On 1 February 1946 Westover became an Air Transport Command base which meant that it was the terminus for air routes around the world.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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 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.
• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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.
• 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.