Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Indiana, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU), Columbus, Indiana, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,933 miles (or 6,329 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 Columbus Municipal 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 Columbus Municipal 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 Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU):

• In addition to being known as "Columbus Municipal Airport", another name for CLU is "BAK".
• The furthest airport from Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,219 miles (18,054 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Columbus Municipal Airport is on the site of the former World War II Atterbury Army Airfield and United States Air Force Bakalar Air Force Base.
• Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU) has 2 runways.
• Because of Columbus Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 656 feet, planes can take off or land at Columbus Municipal 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 Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU) is Freeman Municipal Airport (SER), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) S of CLU.
• Columbus Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles north of the central business district of Columbus, a city in Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.