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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.

Facts about Blythe Airport (BLH):

• In addition to being known as "Blythe Airport", another name for BLH is "(former Blythe Army Air Field)".
• At its peak in December, 1943 the base had a population just short of 8000 uniformed and civilian personnel.
• The closest airport to Blythe Airport (BLH) is Laguna Army Airfield (LGF), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) SSE of BLH.
• It never served Blythe, but Pacific Southwest Airlines conducted jet training flights from the Blythe Airport on occasion.
• 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.
• 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.
• Blythe Airport (BLH) has 2 runways.
• During World War II the airfield was known as Blythe Army Air Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces.