Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Christiansted, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base (SSB), Christiansted, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,109 miles (or 6,612 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 Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base, 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 Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base. 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.
• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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 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.
• 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 Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base (SSB):

• Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base (SSB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base", other names for SSB include "St. Croix Seaplane Base", "none" and "VI32".
• Because of Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base 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 furthest airport from Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base (SSB) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base (meaning Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,221 miles (19,668 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Christiansted Harbor Seaplane Base (SSB) is Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport (STX), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) WSW of SSB.