Nonstop flight route between Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States and Alconbury, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VPS to AYH:
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- About this route
- VPS Airport Information
- AYH Airport Information
- Facts about VPS
- Facts about AYH
- Map of Nearest Airports to VPS
- List of Nearest Airports to VPS
- Map of Furthest Airports from VPS
- List of Furthest Airports from VPS
- Map of Nearest Airports to AYH
- List of Nearest Airports to AYH
- Map of Furthest Airports from AYH
- List of Furthest Airports from AYH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS), Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,434 miles (or 7,136 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 Northwest Florida Regional Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102, 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 Northwest Florida Regional Airport and RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | VPS / KVPS |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 30°28'59"N by 86°31'31"W |
| Area Served: | Fort Walton Beach, Destin |
| Airport Type: | Public / Military |
| Elevation: | 87 feet (27 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from VPS |
| More Information: | VPS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | AYH / EGWZ |
| Airport Name: | RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 |
| Location: | Alconbury, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 52°21'47"N by 0°13'22"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from AYH |
| More Information: | AYH Maps & Info |
Facts about Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS):
- Access to the terminal is off of State Road 85.
- In addition to being known as "Northwest Florida Regional Airport", another name for VPS is "Eglin Air Force Base".
- Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) has 2 runways.
- Because of Northwest Florida Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 87 feet, planes can take off or land at Northwest Florida 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.
- The terminal is a two-level, 107,000 square foot facility opened in November 2004.
- The furthest airport from Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,174 miles (17,983 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- The closest airport to Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport (DSI), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SSE of VPS.
- Okaloosa County owns and operates the airport terminal, which is on 131 acres of Eglin AFB property that is lease from the U.S.
Facts about RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):
- Royal Air Force Alconbury or RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station in the United Kingdom, located in Huntingdon, England.
- The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
- In late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.
- In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
- Squadrons 15 and 40 converted from Battles to Bristol Blenheim bombers, but did not take part in bombing raids with the new type until the German Blitzkrieg was unleashed in May 1940.
- RAF Alconbury is about 0.308 sq mi in area.
- The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The 501 CSW ensures United Kingdom-based air base groups are resourced, sustained, trained and equipped to exacting command standards in order to provide mission support that enables United States and NATO war fighters to conduct full spectrum flying operations during expeditionary deployments, theatre munitions movements, global command and control communications to forward deployed locations, support for theatre intelligence operations and joint/combined training.
- The construction attracted the attention of the Luftwaffe as the flying field of RAF Alconbury was attacked by German bombers on 16 September 1940, although no serious damage was done.
- The first American Eighth Air Force unit to take residence at RAF Alconbury was the 93d Bombardment Group, known as the "Travelling Circus" from Fort Myers AAF, Florida on 7 September 1942.
