Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Winter Haven, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF), Winter Haven, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,240 miles (or 6,824 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 Winter Haven's Gilbert 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 Winter Haven's Gilbert 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):

• 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.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• 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 only squadrons to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis are the University of Wales Air Squadron, flying Grob Tutors and No 634 Volunteer Gliding Squadron using Vigilant T.1s.
• The station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.

Facts about Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF):

• The furthest airport from Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,482 miles (18,478 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport", another name for GIF is "Winter Haven Municipal Airport".
• The closest airport to Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF) is Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) SSW of GIF.
• For the 12-month period ending November 17, 2009, the airport had 60,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 164 per day.
• Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF) has 2 runways.
• During World War II, Gilbert Field was an auxiliary airfield for the Lakeland School of Aeronautics at the Lakeland Lodwick Field airport.
• Because of Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport's relatively low elevation of 145 feet, planes can take off or land at Winter Haven's Gilbert 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.