Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and McKinleyville, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV), McKinleyville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,127 miles (or 8,251 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 MoD St Athan and Arcata/Eureka 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 MoD St Athan and Arcata/Eureka Airport. 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 MoD St Athan (DGX):

• During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• RAF St Athan has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan - the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915.
• The furthest airport from MoD St Athan (DGX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• Because of MoD St Athan's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at MoD St Athan 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.

Facts about Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV):

• In 2013 SkyWest Airlines Embraer EMB-120s were ACV's only scheduled flights.
• In 2005 the airport served 102,000 arriving commercial passengers and 104,000 departing on 4,370 departing flights.
• 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.
• 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 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".
• The closest airport to Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) is Murray Field (EKA), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) S of ACV.
• Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) has 2 runways.