Nonstop flight route between Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Tau, American Samoa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Tau Airport (TAV), Tau, American Samoa would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,788 miles (or 15,752 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 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 Northolt 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 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• Attention was high again in 2001 when Ronnie Biggs, the seriously ill, fugitive Great Train Robber, was flown from Brazil to the airfield to be arrested by waiting police officers.
• During the construction of Heathrow Airport, Northolt was used for commercial civil flights, becoming the busiest airport in Europe for a time and a major base for British European Airways.
• The Ministry of Defence launched Project MoDEL in 2006 to consolidate many of its London-based operations at RAF Northolt.
• On 1 June 1960, an Avro Anson aircraft suffered engine failure soon after take-off from Northolt and crash-landed on top of the nearby Express Dairies plant in South Ruislip.
• On 15 September 1940 during the Battle of Britain, No. 1 Squadron RCAF, No. 229 Squadron, No.

Facts about Tau Airport (TAV):

• In addition to being known as "Tau Airport", other names for TAV include "none" and "HI36".
• 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.
• 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.