Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Scottsdale, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Scottsdale Airport (SCF), Scottsdale, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,190 miles (or 8,353 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 Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale 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 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.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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 Scottsdale Airport (SCF):

• In addition to being known as "Scottsdale Airport", other names for SCF include "Thunderbird Field #2" and "SDL".
• During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces Army Air Forces Training Command as "Thunderbird Field #2" on June 22, 1942, as a primary flight training school for aviation cadets.
• Scottsdale Airport covers an area of 282 acres which contains one asphalt paved runway measuring 8,249 x 100 ft.
• Scottsdale Airport (SCF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Scottsdale Airport (SCF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,436 miles (18,404 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• While in operation, Thunderbird #2 underwent a transformation that took it from a small piece of isolated desert to a primary training school.
• The closest airport to Scottsdale Airport (SCF) is Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (DVT), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) WNW of SCF.
• It is one of the busiest single-runway facilities in the nation, with approximately 202,000 operations in 2004.