Nonstop flight route between Ottumwa, Iowa, United States and Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ottumwa Regional Airport (OTM), Ottumwa, Iowa, United States and RAF Ascension (ASI), Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,968 miles (or 9,604 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 Ottumwa Regional Airport and RAF Ascension, 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 Ottumwa Regional Airport and RAF Ascension. 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 Ottumwa Regional Airport (OTM):

• Ottumwa Regional Airport, formerly known as Ottumwa Industrial Airport, is a public airport located five miles northwest of the central business district of Ottumwa, a city in Wapello County, Iowa, United States.
• Ottumwa Regional Airport covers an area of 1,600 acres at an elevation of 845 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Ottumwa Regional Airport (OTM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,856 miles (17,470 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 2002, the City of Ottumwa, in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration constructed a new terminal at the airport, replacing the World War II-era operations building that had served as the terminal.
• With the end of World War II and much less need for large numbers of aviators, NAS Ottumwa was transitioned from a flight training role to one of classroom-based pre-flight training on December 7, 1945—exactly four years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
• Because of Ottumwa Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 845 feet, planes can take off or land at Ottumwa 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.
• Ottumwa Regional Airport (OTM) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Ottumwa Regional Airport (OTM) is Fairfield Municipal Airport (FFL), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) E of OTM.

Facts about RAF Ascension (ASI):

• The closest airport to RAF Ascension (ASI) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 965 miles (1,553 kilometers) NNE of ASI.
• The NASA Tracking Station at Devil's Ashpit and the Cable & Wireless Earth Station at Donkey Plain were built in the "mid-sixties" for space operations and communications, including the latter's use for transmitting "microwave borne data via the Early Bird Satellite back to the NASA facility at Andover, Maine.
• The furthest airport from RAF Ascension (ASI) is Ujae Airport (UJE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Ascension (meaning RAF Ascension is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ujae Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ujae Atoll, Marshall Islands.
• The RAF presence on Ascension is backed up by United States Air Force personnel, who contribute a similar number of service personnel to ensure the effective running of the station, under the command of Captain Eduard Rodriguez, who is responsible to the RAF Station Commander.
• Wideawake Airfield was a US installation built in 1943 by arrangement with the British government.
• RAF Ascension Island is also the refuelling point for the Ministry of Defence's South Atlantic Air Bridge flights to RAF Mount Pleasant, on the Falkland Islands, from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, in the UK.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Ascension", another name for ASI is "Wideawake Airbase/Field".