Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Rice Lake, Wisconsin, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Rice Lake Regional Airport (RIE), Rice Lake, Wisconsin, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,870 miles (or 6,229 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 Rice Lake Regional 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 Rice Lake Regional 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.

Facts about Rice Lake Regional Airport (RIE):

• Rice Lake Regional Airport (RIE) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Rice Lake Regional Airport", other names for RIE include "Carl's Field" and "RPD".
• The furthest airport from Rice Lake Regional Airport (RIE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,813 miles (17,402 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Rice Lake Air Center is the fixed base operator.
• The closest airport to Rice Lake Regional Airport (RIE) is Amery Municipal Airport (AHH), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) WSW of RIE.
• Rice Lake Regional Airport covers an area of 750 acres at an elevation of 1,109 feet above mean sea level.