Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Peru, Indiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS), Peru, Indiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,822 miles (or 6,150 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 Grissom Air Reserve Base, 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 Grissom Air Reserve Base. 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):

• Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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 training to be carried out at St Athan was to be specialist phase 2 and phase 3 engineering courses of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
• After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton.
• 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.
• In March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.

Facts about Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS):

• On 27 January 1967, the Apollo I spacecraft caught fire during a pre-launch preparation at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34, killing United States Air Force astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I.
• The United States Navy on 1 July 1942 started Naval Air Station Bunker Hill to train Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard pilots.
• Despite this activity, the end of the Cold War led to a downsizing of the military.
• Because of this inactivation, the Air Force reassigned Grissom Air Reserve Base in 1997 to the Air Force Reserve Command.
• The closest airport to Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS) is Kokomo Municipal Airport (OKK), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) SSE of GUS.
• The furthest airport from Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,184 miles (17,998 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Grissom Air Reserve Base", another name for GUS is "Grissom ARS".