Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Heritage Field (PTW), Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,473 miles (or 5,590 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 Heritage Field, 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 Heritage Field. 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• 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 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 Heritage Field (PTW):

• The closest airport to Heritage Field (PTW) is Quakertown Airport (UKT), which is located only 16 miles (27 kilometers) NE of PTW.
• Heritage Field (PTW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Penn Airways is a fixed base operator located on the field.
• This is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation reliever airport.
• The furthest airport from Heritage Field (PTW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,706 miles (18,839 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Heritage Field's relatively low elevation of 309 feet, planes can take off or land at Heritage Field 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.