Nonstop flight route between Mitchell, South Dakota, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE), Mitchell, South Dakota, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,125 miles (or 6,638 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 Mitchell Municipal Airport and MoD St Athan, 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 Mitchell Municipal Airport and MoD St Athan. 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 Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE):

• Mitchell Municipal Airport covers an area of 1,376 acres at an elevation of 1,304 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,544 miles (16,968 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• From July to late September, 1943, the 700th Bomb Squadron of the 445th Bomb Group conducted their advanced training at Mitchell Army Air Field.
• Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Mitchell Municipal Airport", another name for MHE is "Mitchell Army Airfield".
• The closest airport to Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE) is Huron Regional Airport (HON), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) NNW of MHE.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• Because of MoD St Athan's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at MoD St Athan 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.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• In March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.
• The furthest airport from MoD St Athan (DGX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• The only squadrons to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis are the University of Wales Air Squadron, flying Grob Tutors and No 634 Volunteer Gliding Squadron using Vigilant T.1s.