Nonstop flight route between Valcartier, Québec, Canada and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport (YOY), Valcartier, Québec, Canada and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,038 miles (or 4,889 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 Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport 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 Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport 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 Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport (YOY):

• Because of Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport's relatively low elevation of 550 feet, planes can take off or land at Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport 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 closest airport to Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport (YOY) is Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SE of YOY.
• The furthest airport from Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport (YOY) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,480 miles (18,475 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• ASU Valcartier is also home of the Army Cadet Summer Training Centre Valcartier, which trains Royal Canadian Army Cadets of the Eastern Region / Province of Quebec.
• In 1997 a cancer-causing chemical, trichloroethylene, was found in the water supply of CFB Valcartier and the nearby town of Shannon, Quebec.
• In addition to being known as "Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport", other names for YOY include "2nd Canadian Division Support Base, Valcartier" and "Base des Forces canadiennes Valcartier".
• CFB Valcartier was originally erected as a military training camp in August 1914 as part of the mobilization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the onset of World War I.
• CFB Valcartier is also home to a Defence Research and Development Canada location, which conducts military research for the Canadian Forces.
• Canadian Forces Base Valcartier is a Canadian Forces Base located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, approximately 25 km north of Quebec City.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.