Nonstop flight route between Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Rio Grande, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), Rio Grande, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,574 miles (or 10,580 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 Northolt and Rio Grande Regional 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 Northolt and Rio Grande Regional 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 Northolt (NHT):

• In 1943, the station became the first to fly sorties using Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXs in German airspace in support of bomber operations.
• Construction of the new aerodrome, to be named "RFC Military School, Ruislip", began in January 1915.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• Starting in 1946 the airfield was used by civil aviation during the construction of nearby Heathrow Airport.
• Thirty Allied airmen including servicemen from Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom were killed flying from RAF Northolt during the Battle of Britain, of whom ten were Polish.
• After the Battle of Britain, the station remained a base for daytime fighter operations, with No.
• Civil flights ceased when the central area at Heathrow opened in 1954 with Northolt reverting to sole military use in May that year.
• The remains of a Hawker Hurricane flown by Flying Officer Ludwik Witold Paszkiewicz, the first pilot in No. 303 Squadron to shoot down an enemy aircraft, were donated to the station in June 2008.
• The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG):

• Because of Rio Grande Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Rio Grande Regional 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.
• The closest airport to Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG) is Pelotas International Airport (PET), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNW of RIG.
• In addition to being known as "Rio Grande Regional Airport", other names for RIG include "Aeroporto Regional de Rio Grande" and "SJRG".
• Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG) is Fukue Airport (FUJ), which is nearly antipodal to Rio Grande Regional Airport (meaning Rio Grande Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fukue Airport), and is located 12,366 miles (19,901 kilometers) away in Gotō, Nagasaki, Japan.