Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Leadville, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Lake County Airport (LXV), Leadville, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,648 miles (or 7,480 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 Lake County 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 Lake County 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.
• 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.
• 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 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.

Facts about Lake County Airport (LXV):

• The closest airport to Lake County Airport (LXV) is Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) W of LXV.
• Lake County Airport covers an area of 605 acres.
• The highest helicopter flight training school in the world, RAVCO, operates out of the Lake County Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Lake County Airport", another name for LXV is "Leadville Airport".
• At one point, the airport had scheduled passenger airline service.
• Because of Lake County Airport's high elevation of 9,927 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LXV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LXV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Lake County Airport (LXV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lake County Airport (LXV) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,958 miles (17,635 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.