Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Blountville, Tennessee (Tri-Cities area), United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI), Blountville, Tennessee (Tri-Cities area), United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,924 miles (or 6,315 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 Tri-Cities Regional 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 Tri-Cities Regional 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.

Facts about Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI):

• American Airlines pulled out in 1952.
• Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) is Virginia Highlands Airport (VJI), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) NE of TRI.
• The furthest airport from Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,434 miles (18,402 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In the mid-1930s Johnson City’s airfield and Kingsport’s airstrip were deemed not practical for expansion.
• Tri-Cities Regional Airport covers 1,225 acres at an elevation of 1,519 feet above mean sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Tri-Cities Regional Airport", another name for TRI is "Tri-Cities Regional Airport, TN/VA".