Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Essington, Pennsylvania, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ), Essington, Pennsylvania, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,417 miles (or 5,500 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 Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field, 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 Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field. 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):

• 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.
• 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 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 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ):

• The closest airport to Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ) is Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) ENE of PSQ.
• The furthest airport from Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,732 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field", another name for PSQ is "9N2".
• Because of Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field 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.
• Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ) currently has only 1 runway.