Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Cleveland, Ohio, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF), Cleveland, Ohio, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,653 miles (or 5,880 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 Cuyahoga County 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 Cuyahoga County 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):

• Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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.

Facts about Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF):

• In addition to being known as "Cuyahoga County Airport", another name for CGF is "Robert D. Shea Field".
• Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Cuyahoga County Airport covers an area of 640 acres at an elevation of 879 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF) is Willoughby Lost Nation Municipal Airport (LNN), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) NNE of CGF.
• Because of Cuyahoga County Airport's relatively low elevation of 879 feet, planes can take off or land at Cuyahoga County 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 Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,391 miles (18,332 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The facilities includes 6 office buildings in the Industrial Park, an Administrative Safety and Service complex, 15 hangar facilities and 2 tie down areas to accommodate the 133 based aircraft, a flight school, US Customs, an FAA Air Traffic Control Tower, an 18 hole golf course and an employee base in excess of 2000.