Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Santa Ynez, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to SQA:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- SQA Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about SQA
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to SQA
- List of Nearest Airports to SQA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SQA
- List of Furthest Airports from SQA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), Santa Ynez, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,406 miles (or 8,700 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 Santa Ynez 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 Santa Ynez Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SQA / KIZA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Santa Ynez, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°36'24"N by 120°4'32"W |
Area Served: | County of Santa Barbara |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 671 feet (205 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SQA |
More Information: | SQA Maps & Info |
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
Facts about Santa Ynez Airport (SQA):
- Because of Santa Ynez Airport's relatively low elevation of 671 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Ynez 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.
- The closest airport to Santa Ynez Airport (SQA) is Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) SE of SQA.
- Santa Ynez Airport (SQA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Santa Ynez Airport (SQA) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,474 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Ynez Airport", another name for SQA is "IZA".