Nonstop flight route between Fort Stockton, Texas, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST), Fort Stockton, Texas, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,956 miles (or 7,976 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport and MoD St Athan, 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport and MoD St Athan. 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST):

• In addition to being known as "Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport", another name for FST is "Gibbs Army Airfield".
• Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) is Pecos Municipal Airport (PEQ), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) NW of FST.
• The airport opened as Gibbs Field, or Fort Stockton Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base during World War II.
• The furthest airport from Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,286 miles (18,163 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Inactivated on 12 March 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
• Because of MoD St Athan's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at MoD St Athan 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.
• The furthest airport from MoD St Athan (DGX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• The station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.