Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Ogden, Utah, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Hill Air Force Base (HIF), Ogden, Utah, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,782 miles (or 7,696 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 Hill 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 Hill 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):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Hill Air Force Base (HIF):

• The furthest airport from Hill Air Force Base (HIF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,935 miles (17,598 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Three enlisted United States Air Force airmen stationed at Hill AFB, named Dale Selby Pierre, William Andrews and Keith Roberts, were convicted in connection with the Hi-Fi murders, which took place at the Hi-Fi Shop in Ogden, Utah, on April 22, 1974.
• Hill AFB has also housed the 30-acre Hill Aerospace Museum since 1981.
• On September 8, 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Genesis space probe crash-landed on the nearby U.S.
• Hill Air Force Base is named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill, the Chief of the Flying Branch of the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Hill Air Force Base", another name for HIF is "Hill AFB".
• The closest airport to Hill Air Force Base (HIF) is Ogden-Hinckley Airport (OGD), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) NNW of HIF.
• Starting in 1944, Hill Field was utilized for the long-term storage of surplus airplanes and their support equipment, including outmoded P-40 Tomahawks and P-40 Warhawks which had been removed from combat service and replaced by newer and better warplanes.
• One of the survivors of the attack, Cortney Naisbitt, later trained in computers and worked at Hill Air Force Base.