Nonstop flight route between Forbes, New South Wales, Australia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FRB to FFD:
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- About this route
- FRB Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about FRB
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to FRB
- List of Nearest Airports to FRB
- Map of Furthest Airports from FRB
- List of Furthest Airports from FRB
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Forbes Airport (FRB), Forbes, New South Wales, Australia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,467 miles (or 16,844 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 Forbes Airport and RAF Fairford, 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 Forbes Airport and RAF Fairford. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FRB / YFBS |
Airport Name: | Forbes Airport |
Location: | Forbes, New South Wales, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°21'47"S by 147°56'6"E |
Operator/Owner: | Forbes Shire Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 760 feet (232 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from FRB |
More Information: | FRB Maps & Info |
Arrival 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 |
Facts about Forbes Airport (FRB):
- The furthest airport from Forbes Airport (FRB) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is nearly antipodal to Forbes Airport (meaning Forbes Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Horta International Airport), and is located 12,034 miles (19,367 kilometers) away in Horta, Azores, Portugal.
- The closest airport to Forbes Airport (FRB) is Condobolin Airport (CBX), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) WNW of FRB.
- Forbes Airport (FRB) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Forbes Airport's relatively low elevation of 760 feet, planes can take off or land at Forbes Airport 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.
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
- 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.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.