Nonstop flight route between Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Station Oceana (NTU), Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,646 miles (or 5,868 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 Naval Air Station Oceana 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 Naval Air Station Oceana 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 Naval Air Station Oceana (NTU):

• Aside from its military function, NAS Oceana was an alternative landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle until the program ended in 2011.
• Plans by the Navy to construct an outlying landing field supporting both NAS Oceana and MCAS Cherry Point in eastern North Carolina, initiated in 2006, met with fierce opposition by local residents and environmentalists.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Oceana", another name for NTU is "Apollo Soucek Field".
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Station Oceana (NTU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,779 miles (18,956 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Naval Air Station Oceana (NTU) is Norfolk International Airport (ORF), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) WNW of NTU.
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• Under the Navy's Master Jet Base concept, all Type/Model/Series aircraft were homebased at one field with associated intermediate maintenance and training facilities.
• Naval Air Station Oceana (NTU) has 4 runways.

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.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.