Nonstop flight route between Winter Haven, Florida, United States and Braintree, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GIF to WXF:
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- About this route
- GIF Airport Information
- WXF Airport Information
- Facts about GIF
- Facts about WXF
- Map of Nearest Airports to GIF
- List of Nearest Airports to GIF
- Map of Furthest Airports from GIF
- List of Furthest Airports from GIF
- Map of Nearest Airports to WXF
- List of Nearest Airports to WXF
- Map of Furthest Airports from WXF
- List of Furthest Airports from WXF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF), Winter Haven, Florida, United States and MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF), Braintree, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,398 miles (or 7,078 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 Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport and MDPGA Wethersfield, 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 Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport and MDPGA Wethersfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GIF / KGIF |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Winter Haven, Florida, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 28°3'46"N by 81°45'11"W |
| Area Served: | Winter Haven, Florida |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Winter Haven |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 145 feet (44 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GIF |
| More Information: | GIF Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WXF / EGVT |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Braintree, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°58'26"N by 0°30'21"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| Airport Type: | Military airfield, private airfield |
| Elevation: | 322 feet (98 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 3 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WXF |
| More Information: | WXF Maps & Info |
Facts about Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF):
- The closest airport to Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF) is Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) SSW of GIF.
- Because of Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport's relatively low elevation of 145 feet, planes can take off or land at Winter Haven's Gilbert 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.
- Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport covers an area of 520 acres at an elevation of 145 feet above mean sea level.
- In addition to being known as "Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport", another name for GIF is "Winter Haven Municipal Airport".
- The furthest airport from Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,482 miles (18,478 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport (GIF) has 2 runways.
Facts about MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF):
- The closure of US bases in France forced the opening of RAF Greenham Common under 20th TFW management to handle personnel overflow beginning in January 1967.
- Because of MDPGA Wethersfield's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at MDPGA Wethersfield 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.
- In addition to being known as "MDPGA Wethersfield", another name for WXF is "RAF Wethersfield".
- In 1951, as a result of the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union, the British provided RAF Wethersfield to the USAF as part of their NATO commitment.
- The fighter squadrons of the 20th had been in constant rotation since the arrival of the wing at Wethersfield in 1952.
- In 1978 the British and American Governments agreed to establish a Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers unit in the UK.
- The furthest airport from MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,856 miles (19,080 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) has 3 runways.
- All three wartime-era runways and connecting taxiways, as well as many wartime loop-type dispersal hardstands, remain in good condition.
- Woodbridge was operated as a detachment of the 20th FBW until 8 July 1958, when the 20th FBW/TFW handed over control to the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing.
- The 416th Bombardment Group arrived at Wethersfield from Laurel Army Airfield, Mississippi, on 1 February 1944, flying the twin-engine Douglas A-20G "Havoc" aircraft.
- As the American involvement in the Vietnam War wound down, the role of RED HORSE units in peacetime came into question.
- The closest airport to MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is London Stansted Airport (STN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) WSW of WXF.
- Wethersfield was allocated by the RAF to the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force in August 1942.
