Nonstop flight route between Oscoda, Michigan, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC), Oscoda, Michigan, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,546 miles (or 5,706 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 Oscoda-Wurtsmith 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 Oscoda-Wurtsmith 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 Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC):

• The closest airport to Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC) is Alpena County Regional Airport (APN), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) N of OSC.
• For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2005, the airport had 8,857 aircraft operations, an average of 24 per day, all of which were general aviation.
• Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC) currently has only 1 runway.
• It now occupies a portion of the former base and is primarily used for cargo and light general aviation activities.
• The furthest airport from Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,213 miles (18,046 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Other tenants at the former base include the Aune Medical Center, Alcona Health Center Dental Clinic, Alpena Community College, and numerous private businesses.
• Because of Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport's relatively low elevation of 634 feet, planes can take off or land at Oscoda-Wurtsmith 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.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• 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.
• The training to be carried out at St Athan was to be specialist phase 2 and phase 3 engineering courses of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.