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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mount Pleasant Airport (MSD), Mount Pleasant, Utah, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,852 miles (or 7,809 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 Mount Pleasant 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 Mount Pleasant 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.

Facts about Mount Pleasant Airport (MSD):

• In addition to being known as "Mount Pleasant Airport", other names for MSD include "MSC" and "43U".
• The closest airport to Mount Pleasant Airport (MSD) is Salina-Gunnison Airport (SBO), which is located 39 miles (64 kilometers) SSW of MSD.
• Mount Pleasant Airport (MSD) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mount Pleasant Airport's high elevation of 5,830 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MSD. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MSD a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Mount Pleasant Airport (MSD) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,037 miles (17,762 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.