Nonstop flight route between Friday Harbor, Washington, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Friday Harbor Seaplane Base (FBS), Friday Harbor, Washington, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,696 miles (or 7,557 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 Friday Harbor Seaplane Base and RAF Fairford, 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 Friday Harbor Seaplane Base and RAF Fairford. 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 Friday Harbor Seaplane Base (FBS):

• The furthest airport from Friday Harbor Seaplane Base (FBS) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,724 miles (17,259 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Friday Harbor Seaplane Base (FBS) is Friday Harbor Airport (FRD), which is located only 1 miles (2 kilometers) SSW of FBS.
• Friday Harbor Seaplane Base (FBS) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Friday Harbor Seaplane Base", another name for FBS is "W33".
• Because of Friday Harbor Seaplane Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Friday Harbor Seaplane Base 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.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• The furthest airport from RAF Fairford (FFD) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,898 miles (19,148 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command would be based in the UK.