Nonstop flight route between Greenville, South Carolina, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GDC to FFD:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- GDC Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about GDC
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to GDC
- List of Nearest Airports to GDC
- Map of Furthest Airports from GDC
- List of Furthest Airports from GDC
- 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 Donaldson Center Airport (GDC), Greenville, South Carolina, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,004 miles (or 6,444 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 Donaldson Center 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 Donaldson Center 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: | GDC / KGYH |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Greenville, South Carolina, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°45'29"N by 82°22'35"W |
Area Served: | Greenville, South Carolina |
Operator/Owner: | Greenville City/County |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 955 feet (291 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GDC |
More Information: | GDC 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 Donaldson Center Airport (GDC):
- Because of Donaldson Center Airport's relatively low elevation of 955 feet, planes can take off or land at Donaldson Center 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.
- Greenville Army Air Base opened in 1942 during World War II.
- The closest airport to Donaldson Center Airport (GDC) is Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NNE of GDC.
- In addition to being known as "Donaldson Center Airport", another name for GDC is "GYH".
- The furthest airport from Donaldson Center Airport (GDC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,439 miles (18,410 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Donaldson Center Airport (GDC) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- 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 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.
- Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.