Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Clearwater, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Clearwater Air Park (CLW), Clearwater, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,353 miles (or 7,005 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 Clearwater Air Park, 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 Clearwater Air Park. 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.

Facts about Clearwater Air Park (CLW):

• The closest airport to Clearwater Air Park (CLW) is St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SE of CLW.
• Because of Clearwater Air Park's relatively low elevation of 71 feet, planes can take off or land at Clearwater Air Park 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.
• Clearwater Air Park (CLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Clearwater Air Park (CLW) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,421 miles (18,380 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.