Nonstop flight route between Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, United States and Northampton / Peterborough, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NAS JRB Willow Grove (NXX), Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, United States and Sywell Aerodrome (ORM), Northampton / Peterborough, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,486 miles (or 5,610 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 NAS JRB Willow Grove and Sywell Aerodrome, 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 NAS JRB Willow Grove and Sywell Aerodrome. 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 NAS JRB Willow Grove (NXX):

• The closest airport to NAS JRB Willow Grove (NXX) is Wings Field (BBX), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) SW of NXX.
• NAS JRB Willow Grove (NXX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Currently, the 111th Fighter Wing, operating the A-10 Thunderbolt II, has lost all its aircraft to other ANG Squadrons under BRAC.
• The furthest airport from NAS JRB Willow Grove (NXX) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,726 miles (18,871 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On May 28, 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure commission recommended that NAS JRB Willow Grove be closed as part of the 2005 BRAC round, that the tenant Air Force Reserve Command airlift wing be inactivated and that Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve flying units relocate to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey as tenant units.
• Because of NAS JRB Willow Grove's relatively low elevation of 335 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS JRB Willow Grove 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 Sywell Aerodrome (ORM):

• The closest airport to Sywell Aerodrome (ORM) is Milton Keynes Airport (KYN), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) S of ORM.
• The furthest airport from Sywell Aerodrome (ORM) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,838 miles (19,051 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Sywell Aerodrome (ORM) has 4 runways.
• Sywell has three all-grass operational runways and a fourth all-weather concrete runway.
• Because of Sywell Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 424 feet, planes can take off or land at Sywell Aerodrome 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 aerodrome opened in 1928 and during the Second World War the aerodrome as RAF Sywell, was used as a training facility and later an important centre for the repair of Wellington bombers and extensive sheds from this time still remain on the site.
• The organizations STARE and CPRE campaigned against this change, arguing that it would lead to more and larger aircraft flying over the area and disturb its "rural tranquility".
• In addition to being known as "Sywell Aerodrome", another name for ORM is "Northampton/Sywell Aerodrome".
• The aerodrome now hosts a bi-annual charity airshow in aid of the local Air Ambulance where there are many classic aircraft flying and on display such as the Catalina, Mustang, North American Harvards and the British classic, the Lancaster bomber.