Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Junction City, Kansas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base (FRI), Junction City, Kansas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,359 miles (or 7,015 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 Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base, 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 Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base. 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.

Facts about Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base (FRI):

• The closest airport to Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base (FRI) is Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NE of FRI.
• Thanks to conflict-driven innovations in flight and cargo hauling operations, helicopters assumed a much larger peacetime Army role after the Korean War.
• In addition to being known as "Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base", another name for FRI is "Marshall AAF".
• The furthest airport from Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base (FRI) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,654 miles (17,146 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Late in 1946 the Army Cavalry School and the Cavalry Intelligence School at Fort Riley were inactivated and the Ground General School was established there.
• Several units besides the 2d Composite Squadron spent some time at Marshall during the war.
• In March 1926, Arnold, then a major, returned as air base commander.