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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Blythe Airport (BLH), Blythe, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,286 miles (or 8,508 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 Blythe 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 RAF Fairford and Blythe 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 RAF Fairford (FFD):

• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.

Facts about Blythe Airport (BLH):

• During World War II the airfield was known as Blythe Army Air Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces.
• The Army Air Forces then used Blythe as a heavy bombardment crew training base for the Second Air Force 16th Bombardment Training Wing 358th Combat Crew Training School.
• The furthest airport from Blythe Airport (BLH) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,472 miles (18,462 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The 46th Bombardment Group and later the 85th Bombardment Group occupied the field during the CAMA days and flew a variety of planes including A-31 Vengeances and A-36 Apaches.
• The closest airport to Blythe Airport (BLH) is Laguna Army Airfield (LGF), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) SSE of BLH.
• The airport was leased by the United States Army in 1942 and between 1942 and 1944, the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Blythe Airport", another name for BLH is "(former Blythe Army Air Field)".
• Blythe was served by Bonanza Air Lines with Fairchild F-27s to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson and other cities.
• Blythe Airport was established by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in the late 1930s as an emergency landing field on the Los Angeles to Phoenix airway.
• Because of Blythe Airport's relatively low elevation of 399 feet, planes can take off or land at Blythe 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.
• At its peak in December, 1943 the base had a population just short of 8000 uniformed and civilian personnel.
• Blythe Airport (BLH) has 2 runways.