Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Ipatinga / Santana do Paraiso, Minas Gerais, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Usiminas Airport (IPN), Ipatinga / Santana do Paraiso, Minas Gerais, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,495 miles (or 8,844 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 Usiminas 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 Usiminas 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):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.

Facts about Usiminas Airport (IPN):

• The closest airport to Usiminas Airport (IPN) is Coronel Altino Machado de Oliveira Airport (GVR), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) NE of IPN.
• Because of Usiminas Airport's relatively low elevation of 784 feet, planes can take off or land at Usiminas 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 Usiminas Airport (IPN) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is located 11,996 miles (19,306 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Usiminas Airport", another name for IPN is "Aeroporto da Usiminas".
• Usiminas Airport (IPN) currently has only 1 runway.