Nonstop flight route between Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,846 miles (or 6,190 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 Pope Field 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 Pope Field 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 Pope Field (POB):

• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Lessons learned in the Gulf War in 1990-1991 led senior defense planners to conclude that the structure of the military establishment created numerous command and control problems.
• The United States Air Force 43d Airlift Group was activated at Pope on March 1, 2011.
• The 464th received the Mackay Trophy for the dramatic RED DRAGON/DRAGON ROUGE and BLACK DRAGON/DRAGON NOIR hostage rescue missions in the Congo in 1964.
• After the war, Pope Field became Pope Air Force Base with the creation of the United States Air Force on 18 September 1947.
• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• Headquarters, Ninth Air Force, was located at Pope in August 1950.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.