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):

• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.

Facts about Marin County Airport (NOT):

• The closest airport to Marin County Airport (NOT) is Napa County Airport (APC), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) ENE of NOT.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Marin County Airport", other names for NOT include "Gnoss Field" and "DVO".
• Marin County Airport (NOT) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Gnoss Field is known to local pilots and flight instructors as an excellent airport to practice crosswind landings, especially during afternoons in the late spring and summer when the west wind picks up.
• Typical left traffic pattern 13 landings during high crosswinds are flown through varying rotor wind turbulence on the backside of Burdell Mountain and a relatively constant crosswind near the ground.
• Gnoss has two windsocks.
• 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.
• There is a plan to extend the length of Gnoss' runway by 1100', to 4400'.
• Gnoss Field celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 2009–2010.