Nonstop flight route between Great Bend, Kansas, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GBD to FFD:
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- About this route
- GBD Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about GBD
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to GBD
- List of Nearest Airports to GBD
- Map of Furthest Airports from GBD
- List of Furthest Airports from GBD
- 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 Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD), Great Bend, Kansas, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,472 miles (or 7,198 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 Great Bend Municipal 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 Great Bend Municipal 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: | GBD / KGBD |
| Airport Name: | Great Bend Municipal Airport |
| Location: | Great Bend, Kansas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 38°20'39"N by 98°51'33"W |
| Area Served: | Great Bend, Kansas |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Great Bend |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1887 feet (575 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GBD |
| More Information: | GBD 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 Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD):
- Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Hays Regional Airport (HYS), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NNW of GBD.
- During World War II, the facility was Great Bend Army Airfield and was used for United States Army Air Forces Second Air Force training.
- The furthest airport from Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,769 miles (17,331 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
- 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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
