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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.

Facts about Dobbins Air Reserve Base (MGE):

• The push to build this airport came in 1940 when President Franklin D.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• In addition to taking over Rickenbacker Field, the United States Army Air Forces purchased a parcel of land just north of the airfield for a cantonment area.
• 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.