Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Lompoc, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to VBG:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- VBG Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about VBG
- 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 VBG
- List of Nearest Airports to VBG
- Map of Furthest Airports from VBG
- List of Furthest Airports from VBG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,414 miles (or 8,714 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 Vandenberg Air Force 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base. 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: | VBG / KVBG |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Lompoc, California, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 34°43'57"N by 120°34'5"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from VBG |
| More Information: | VBG Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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 was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):
- The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
- In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
- Although the construction of Camp Cooke continued well into 1942, troop training did not wait.
- The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- 576th Flight Test Squadron
