Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marietta, Georgia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Dobbins Air Reserve Base (MGE), Marietta, Georgia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,132 miles (or 6,650 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 Dobbins Air Reserve 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 Dobbins Air Reserve 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):

• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.

Facts about Dobbins Air Reserve Base (MGE):

• After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, work on this new airfield accelerated rapidly.
• Following the war, the Bell Aircraft Plant #6 remained closed for five years.
• In 1949, the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta created the Southern Technical Institute, which was moved to land given by Dobbins AFB in 1958.
• The push to build this airport came in 1940 when President Franklin D.
• The furthest airport from Dobbins Air Reserve Base (MGE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,314 miles (18,208 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1957, Naval Air Station Atlanta at Peachtree-DeKalb Airport in nereby Chamblee moved to Dobbins AFB.
• In addition to being known as "Dobbins Air Reserve Base", another name for MGE is "Dobbins ARB".
• The closest airport to Dobbins Air Reserve Base (MGE) is Fulton County Airport (FTY), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) S of MGE.
• The mission of the Marietta Army Airfield was acceptance testing of B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers for the USAAF, the modification of B-29s, and the operation of an Army Air Depot.