Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Ruston, Louisiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Ruston Regional Airport (RSN), Ruston, Louisiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,527 miles (or 7,285 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 Ruston 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 Ruston 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):

• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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 Ruston Regional Airport (RSN):

• The closest airport to Ruston Regional Airport (RSN) is Monroe Regional Airport (MLU), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) E of RSN.
• Ruston Regional Airport (RSN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Ruston Regional Airport (RSN) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,911 miles (17,559 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• For the 12-month period ending April 17, 2009, the airport had 86,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 235 per day.
• Because of Ruston Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 311 feet, planes can take off or land at Ruston Regional 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.