Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Pilot Station, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to PQS:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- PQS Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about PQS
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to PQS
- List of Nearest Airports to PQS
- Map of Furthest Airports from PQS
- List of Furthest Airports from PQS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Pilot Station Airport (PQS), Pilot Station, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,519 miles (or 7,272 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 RAF Fairford and Pilot Station Airport, 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 RAF Fairford and Pilot Station Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PQS / |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Pilot Station, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 61°56'3"N by 162°53'57"W |
Area Served: | Pilot Station, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF - Northern Region |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 305 feet (93 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from PQS |
More Information: | PQS Maps & Info |
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 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
- 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.
- Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
- 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.
- Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- 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 runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
Facts about Pilot Station Airport (PQS):
- The furthest airport from Pilot Station Airport (PQS) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,503 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
- The closest airport to Pilot Station Airport (PQS) is St. Mary's Airport (KSM), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) NW of PQS.
- In addition to being known as "Pilot Station Airport", another name for PQS is "0AK".
- Because of Pilot Station Airport's relatively low elevation of 305 feet, planes can take off or land at Pilot Station 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.
- Pilot Station Airport (PQS) currently has only 1 runway.