Nonstop flight route between High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Tau, American Samoa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF High Wycombe (HYC), High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Tau Airport (TAV), Tau, American Samoa would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,774 miles (or 15,730 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 RAF High Wycombe and Tau Airport, 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 RAF High Wycombe and Tau Airport. 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 RAF High Wycombe (HYC):

• The furthest airport from RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,867 miles (19,098 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Air Ministry sought a safe location for RAF Bomber Command away from London.
• RAF High Wycombe is situated roughly three miles from the town of High Wycombe over three sites - No 1 Site houses the Command HQ and the Combined Air Operations Centre, No 2 Site houses the officers' mess, while No 3 site is the domestic site, airmen and NCO's quarters, MT yard, PT flight and Supply Flight.
• From 1983 to 1984 there was a peace camp protesting against the building of a bunker there at that time to house RAF Strike Command.
• The closest airport to RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is RAF Benson (BEX), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) WSW of HYC.
• The Ministry of Defence and Serco Group agreed a ten-year contract in February 2010 whereby Serco would provide support services at RAF High Wycombe and RAF Halton, including leisure services, general engineering and catering.
• To preserve secrecy, the station was known as "Southdown" in March 1940, as part of a directive by the Air Ministry.
• Since 2009, the station has been responsible for reviewing UFO sightings as part of efforts to identify any possible unauthorised military incursions into UK airspace.

Facts about Tau Airport (TAV):

• Because of Tau Airport's relatively low elevation of 185 feet, planes can take off or land at Tau 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.
• In addition to being known as "Tau Airport", other names for TAV include "none" and "HI36".
• Tau Airport previously covered an area of 4 acres which contains one runway measuring 2,170 x 100 ft.
• Tau Airport (TAV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Tau Airport (TAV) is Fitiuta Airport (FTI), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) E of TAV.
• The furthest airport from Tau Airport (TAV) is Zinder Airport (ZND), which is nearly antipodal to Tau Airport (meaning Tau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Zinder Airport), and is located 12,331 miles (19,845 kilometers) away in Zinder, Niger.