Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Lemoore, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Naval Air Station Lemoore (NLC), Lemoore, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,303 miles (or 8,535 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 Naval Air Station Lemoore, 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 Naval Air Station Lemoore. 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):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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 Naval Air Station Lemoore (NLC):

• The closest airport to Naval Air Station Lemoore (NLC) is New Coalinga Municipal Airport (CLG), which is located 22 miles (36 kilometers) WSW of NLC.
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Station Lemoore (NLC) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,363 miles (18,287 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of Naval Air Station Lemoore's relatively low elevation of 234 feet, planes can take off or land at Naval Air Station Lemoore 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.
• Strike Fighter Wing Pacific with its supporting facilities is home ported here.
• The Navy also brought four new fleet squadrons to Naval Air Station Lemoore over the period 2001-2004.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Lemoore", other names for NLC include "Reeves Field" and "KNLC - FAA: NLC".
• Naval Air Station Lemoore (NLC) has 2 runways.
• Pacific Strike Fighter Wing