Nonstop flight route between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Braintree, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF), Braintree, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,807 miles (or 9,345 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 Santos Dumont Airport and MDPGA Wethersfield, 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 Santos Dumont Airport and MDPGA Wethersfield. 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 Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• Originally known as Calabouço Airport, the history of the airport can be traced back to the early 1930s.
• The furthest airport from Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• With the gradual shift of international operations to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport opened in 1952, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont lost its place as an international hub, but for many years retained its position of a major hub for domestic traffic, particularly until 1960, when the capital of Brazil was moved to Brasília.
• Over the years, the airport's main runway has been extended several times, first to 2,300 feet, then to 3,000 feet, and finally 4,340 feet.
• In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
• On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million investment plan to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal.
• Due to a fire that almost destroyed the main terminal in 1999, the passenger terminal building was closed for 6 months.
• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont 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 MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF):

• On 6 June 1982 614 VGS moved to MDPGA Wethersfield from RAF Debden, as that base was required for tank training.
• During the late 1940s the base was used as a winter camping ground for Chipperfield's Circus.
• Because of MDPGA Wethersfield's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at MDPGA Wethersfield 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 20th Fighter Bomber Wing established an operational detachment at Wheelus AB, Libya, in February 1958.
• The closest airport to MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is London Stansted Airport (STN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) WSW of WXF.
• In August 1976 the 66th CSS became Detachment 1, 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, based at RAF Alconbury.
• The fighter squadrons of the 20th had been in constant rotation since the arrival of the wing at Wethersfield in 1952.
• MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,856 miles (19,080 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In June 1955 the 20th FBW started receiving the F-84F "Thunderstreak" in addition to its F-84Ds and F-84Gs.
• In 1951, as a result of the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union, the British provided RAF Wethersfield to the USAF as part of their NATO commitment.
• In addition to being known as "MDPGA Wethersfield", another name for WXF is "RAF Wethersfield".