Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kobuk, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kobuk Airport (OBU), Kobuk, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,140 miles (or 6,663 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 Kobuk 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 Kobuk 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):

• 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 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Kobuk Airport (OBU):

• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 1,176 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 1,048 in 2009, and 1,255 in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "Kobuk Airport", another name for OBU is "PAOB".
• Kobuk Airport (OBU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kobuk Airport (OBU) is Dahl Creek Airport (DCK), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) N of OBU.
• Because of Kobuk Airport's relatively low elevation of 142 feet, planes can take off or land at Kobuk 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.
• The furthest airport from Kobuk Airport (OBU) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 10,163 miles (16,356 kilometers) away in George, South Africa.
• For the 12-month period ending September 29, 2011, the airport had 5,000 aircraft operations, an average of 13 per day, 100% air taxi.