Nonstop flight route between Falalop Island, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Falalop Airfield (ULI), Falalop Island, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,600 miles (or 12,230 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 Falalop Airfield 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 Falalop Airfield 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 Falalop Airfield (ULI):

• The furthest airport from Falalop Airfield (ULI) is Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ), which is nearly antipodal to Falalop Airfield (meaning Falalop Airfield is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport), and is located 12,385 miles (19,931 kilometers) away in Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• Units stationed at Falalop included VMD-354 operating photo-reconnaissance F4Us and VMF-542 operating F6F-3N night-fighters.
• The closest airport to Falalop Airfield (ULI) is Yap International Airport (YAP), which is located 122 miles (196 kilometers) WSW of ULI.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.