Nonstop flight route between Sacramento, California, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), Sacramento, California, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,214 miles (or 8,391 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 Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield 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 Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield and RAF Fairford. 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 Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC):

• The furthest airport from Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,276 miles (18,146 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• McClellan Airfield, known officially as McClellan Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located six miles northeast of the central business district of Sacramento, a city in Sacramento County, California, United States.
• The airport is on the former site of McClellan Air Force Base, which existed as a military base from 1939 to 2000.
• Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC) is Sacramento Mather Airport (MHR), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SE of MCC.
• Because of Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield's relatively low elevation of 75 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield 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.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle 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.
• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• 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.
• 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 runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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.