Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Mason City, Iowa, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW), Mason City, Iowa, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,982 miles (or 6,408 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 Mason City Municipal 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 Mason City Municipal 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.

Facts about Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW):

• Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) has 2 runways.
• The airport was founded in 1927 by the Mason City Chamber of Commerce and the Clausen-Worden Post of the American Legion, hence its airport code "MCW".
• The furthest airport from Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,784 miles (17,354 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 11,678 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 11,076 in 2009, and 13,852 in 2010.
• The closest airport to Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Forest City Municipal Airport (FXY), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) WNW of MCW.