Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Columbia, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB), Columbia, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,985 miles (or 6,413 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 Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens 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 Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens 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):

• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB):

• The closest airport to Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB) is Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of CUB.
• Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was the main municipal airport serving Columbia, South Carolina prior to World War II.
• The furthest airport from Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,515 miles (18,532 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Eastern Air Transport began passenger and airmail service to Owens Field in 1932.
• Because of Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport's relatively low elevation of 194 feet, planes can take off or land at Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens 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.