Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sweetwater, Texas, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to SWW:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- SWW Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about SWW
- 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 SWW
- List of Nearest Airports to SWW
- Map of Furthest Airports from SWW
- List of Furthest Airports from SWW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Avenger Field (SWW), Sweetwater, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,836 miles (or 7,782 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 Avenger Field, 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 Avenger Field. 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: | SWW / KSWW |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Sweetwater, Texas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 32°28'1"N by 100°27'59"W |
| Area Served: | Sweetwater, Texas |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Sweetwater |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 2380 feet (725 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SWW |
| More Information: | SWW Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Avenger Field (SWW):
- Avenger Field (SWW) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Avenger Field (SWW) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,107 miles (17,874 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- In 1967 the search radar was replaced by an AN/FPS-67B.
- The closest airport to Avenger Field (SWW) is Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) E of SWW.
- As a Texas World War II Army Airfield, "Avenger Field" opened in August 1941 as a United States Army Air Forces training base of the AAF Flying Training Command, Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center.
- The first course was four months long.
- Avenger Field covers 896 acres at an elevation of 2,380 feet.
- In addition to being known as "Avenger Field", another name for SWW is "(former Avenger Army Airfield)".
- Classes entered the WASP program at Avenger Field in monthly intervals.
- The United States Air Force Air Defense Command exercised a right of return to Avenger Field in 1955 when Sweetwater Air Force Station was established as a USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Station.
