Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marysville, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Beale Air Force Base (BAB), Marysville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,188 miles (or 8,350 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 RAF Fairford and Beale Air Force Base, 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 RAF Fairford and Beale Air Force Base. 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 RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
• 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.

Facts about Beale Air Force Base (BAB):

• In addition to being known as "Beale Air Force Base", another name for BAB is "Beale AFB".
• On 30 January 1959, the Air Force announced plans to conduct surveys in the vicinity of Beale to determine the feasibility for missile bases.
• Eventually excess land from the former Army Camp was sold off to the public.
• The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is composed of four groups at Beale and various overseas operating locations.
• The furthest airport from Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,251 miles (18,107 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In 1959 Air Defense Command established a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Beale AFB.
• In September 1962, the 851st SMS became the last Titan I Squadron to achieve alert status.
• At Beale, the 17th continued global strategic bombardment alert to 30 June 1976 when it was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the B-52 at Beale.
• The closest airport to Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Yuba County Airport (MYV), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of BAB.
• Half of the aircraft were maintained on 15-minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat.