Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Charlotte, North Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Wilgrove Air Park (QWG), Charlotte, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,912 miles (or 6,296 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 Wilgrove Air Park, 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 Wilgrove Air Park. 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 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Wilgrove Air Park (QWG):

• The furthest airport from Wilgrove Air Park (QWG) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,536 miles (18,566 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Wilgrove Air Park", another name for QWG is "8A6".
• The closest airport to Wilgrove Air Park (QWG) is Concord Regional Airport (USA), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) N of QWG.
• Because of Wilgrove Air Park's relatively low elevation of 799 feet, planes can take off or land at Wilgrove Air Park 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.
• Wilgrove Air Park (QWG) currently has only 1 runway.