Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Orlando, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Orlando Executive Airport (ORL), Orlando, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,264 miles (or 6,863 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 Orlando Executive 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 Orlando Executive 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):

• Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Orlando Executive Airport (ORL):

• In 1943 the AAFSAT began training units in Night Fighter operations.
• Orlando Executive Airport is a general aviation and corporate aviation airport.
• Orlando Executive Airport (ORL) has 2 runways.
• Because of Orlando Executive Airport's relatively low elevation of 113 feet, planes can take off or land at Orlando Executive 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.
• In 1976 the City of Orlando ceded control of the airport and transferred the property, its former City of Orlando Aviation Department, and all operational responsibilities to the newly established Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, chartered by the Florida State Legislature to operate and manage all publicly owned airports in Orange County, Florida.
• The closest airport to Orlando Executive Airport (ORL) is Orlando International Airport (MCO), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) S of ORL.
• The furthest airport from Orlando Executive Airport (ORL) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,503 miles (18,513 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The United States Army Air Corps took control of the airport in 1940 for use as a training facility and renamed it the Orlando Army Air Base.
• In 1946 the airfield was released to the city of Orlando, while the military support facilities north and northeast of the airport remained under US Army Air Forces control as a non-flying administrative and technical training installation.
• The August 1955 diagram shows runway 17 4,480 ft along the west side of the field, runway 18 5,071 ft, runway 4 5,422 ft, runway 10R 5,313 ft and runway 13 5,568 ft.