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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and University Park Airport (SCE), State College, Pennsylvania, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,540 miles (or 5,697 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 University Park 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 University Park 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.

Facts about University Park Airport (SCE):

• Starting in the 1950s, private pilots in the area had constructed a small airport on land leased from Penn State, just north of State College.
• The furthest airport from University Park Airport (SCE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,582 miles (18,639 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to University Park Airport (SCE) is Mid-State Regional Airport (PSB), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) W of SCE.
• In addition to being known as "University Park Airport", another name for SCE is "UNV".
• University Park Airport (SCE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Construction on the airport's new control tower began on January 8, 2010 and was completed in early August 2011.
• In 2011, there were 144,054 enplanements according to the U.S.