Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL), Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,292 miles (or 6,907 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 Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff 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 Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field. 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL):

• While visiting Tuscaloosa on April 29, 2011, to assess devastation reliefs efforts in the wake of the April 27th tornado disaster, President Barack Obama landed at Tuscaloosa Regional Airport in the Boeing C-32 presidential transport plane.
• The furthest airport from Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,131 miles (17,914 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) is George Downer Airport (AIV), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WSW of TCL.
• Because of Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field's relatively low elevation of 170 feet, planes can take off or land at Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field 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.
• Military operations were inactivated on September 8, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.
• The Civil Aeronautics Administration designated van de Graff Field as an intermediate field.
• Tuscaloosa Regional Airport covers an area of 724 acres at an elevation of 170 feet above mean sea level.