Nonstop flight route between Tulare, California, United States and Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mefford Field (TLR), Tulare, California, United States and RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,297 miles (or 8,525 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 Mefford Field and RAF Brize Norton, 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 Mefford Field and RAF Brize Norton. 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 Mefford Field (TLR):

• Mefford Field, a civilian airfield located in Tulare, CA, served as the temporary site for the Rankin Aeronautical Academy, a flight school to teach United States Army Air Corps flight cadets.
• Because of Mefford Field's relatively low elevation of 265 feet, planes can take off or land at Mefford Field 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mefford Field", another name for TLR is "Tulare Airport".
• The closest airport to Mefford Field (TLR) is Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield (VIS), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NNW of TLR.
• The furthest airport from Mefford Field (TLR) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,364 miles (18,289 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Mefford Field (TLR) currently has only 1 runway.
• As Rankin Academy moved to its permanent site, Mefford Field returned to daily operations as a civilian airfield, which it continues to do to this day.

Facts about RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):

• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• On 23 May 2001 the RAF's first C-17 arrived at Brize Norton, one of six to be delivered to 99 Squadron.
• Major infrastructure redevelopment began in 2010 ahead of the closure of RAF Lyneham in 2012, at which point Brize Norton became the sole air point of embarkation for British troops.
• RAF Brize Norton was opened in 1937 as a training station and one of the first squadrons to use the airfield was No.
• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• By 1950 the USAF Strategic Air Command was based at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham, and RAF Sculthorpe.
• By the end of June 2011 all flying units from RAF Lyneham had moved to RAF Brize Norton.
• By the 1950s Cold War tension was escalating and the United States envisaged stationing nuclear bombers in the United Kingdom as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
• A peace camp was held at the station from 21 to 25 April 2005, along with a demonstration in nearby Carterton.
• By March 2011, 70 buildings had been refurbished on the station.