Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Plymouth Municipal Airport (PYM), Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,205 miles (or 5,157 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 Plymouth Municipal 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 Plymouth Municipal 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.

Facts about Plymouth Municipal Airport (PYM):

• Plymouth Municipal Airport (PYM) has 2 runways.
• Plymouth Municipal Airport is a town-owned, public-use airport located four nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Plymouth, a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States.
• The airport does not have a control tower, as it is has an airspace class of E.
• The furthest airport from Plymouth Municipal Airport (PYM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,801 miles (18,992 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• General aviation terminal
• The closest airport to Plymouth Municipal Airport (PYM) is New Bedford Regional Airport (EWB), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) SW of PYM.
• Because of Plymouth Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 148 feet, planes can take off or land at Plymouth Municipal 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.