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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marin County Airport (NOT), Novato, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,279 miles (or 8,495 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 Marin County 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 Marin County 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):

• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Marin County Airport (NOT):

• The Wrights original privately owned airport had a dirt runway and was just west of the current airport, in what is now a grassy field.
• In addition to being known as "Marin County Airport", other names for NOT include "Gnoss Field" and "DVO".
• The furthest airport from Marin County Airport (NOT) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,343 miles (18,254 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Stol Air Commuter operated flights between the airfield and San Francisco International Airport during the 1970s.
• In 1968 the County of Marin bought the airport and moved it to its present location.
• Marin County Airport (NOT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Marin County Airport (NOT) is Napa County Airport (APC), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) ENE of NOT.
• Gnoss has two windsocks.
• Because of Marin County Airport's relatively low elevation of 2 feet, planes can take off or land at Marin County 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.