Nonstop flight route between Mercury, Nevada, United States and Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Desert Rock Airport (DRA), Mercury, Nevada, United States and Bristol Filton Airport (FZO), Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,143 miles (or 8,277 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 Desert Rock Airport and Bristol Filton 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 Desert Rock Airport and Bristol Filton 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 Desert Rock Airport (DRA):

• The furthest airport from Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,271 miles (18,139 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Creech Air Force Base Indian Springs Auxiliary Army Airfield (1961) Indian Springs Air Force Base (1951) Indian Springs Army Airfield Indian Springs Airport eponyms: Indian Springs, Nevada &Wilbur L. Creech[1] (INS), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of DRA.
• Desert Rock Airport (DRA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Desert Rock Airport", another name for DRA is "NV65".

Facts about Bristol Filton Airport (FZO):

• Bristol Filton Airport (FZO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Bristol Filton Airport's relatively low elevation of 225 feet, planes can take off or land at Bristol Filton 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.
• The furthest airport from Bristol Filton Airport (FZO) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,930 miles (19,200 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• During the late 1940s and early 1950s, BAC branched out into the development and production of pre-fabricated buildings, plastics, helicopters, guided weapons, luxury cars, gas turbines and ramjet motors.
• In addition to being known as "Bristol Filton Airport", another name for FZO is "Filton Aerodrome".
• The length of the runway and its closed-to-passengers status made it an ideal dispersion site for the nation's airborne nuclear deterrent during the Cold War.
• The closest airport to Bristol Filton Airport (FZO) is Bristol Airport (BRS), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SSW of FZO.
• A flying school was located on the northern side of the airfield.
• In the early 1960s, a new Filton bypass was constructed, roughly parallel to the old one, and this later became part of the M5 motorway.
• Filton's runway is one of the widest, at 91 m and is a considerable length at 2,467 m long, having been extended first for the maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon airliner in 1949 and again in the late 1960s for Concorde.