Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and San Luis Obispo, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to SBP:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- SBP Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about SBP
- 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 SBP
- List of Nearest Airports to SBP
- Map of Furthest Airports from SBP
- List of Furthest Airports from SBP
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP), San Luis Obispo, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,388 miles (or 8,671 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional 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: | SBP / KSBP |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | San Luis Obispo, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 35°14'12"N by 120°38'30"W |
Operator/Owner: | San Luis Obispo County |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 212 feet (65 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SBP |
More Information: | SBP Maps & Info |
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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- 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.
Facts about San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP):
- In addition to being known as "San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport", another name for SBP is "McChesney Field".
- Because of San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 212 feet, planes can take off or land at San Luis Obispo County 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.
- 903-5 AIRPORT DRIVE SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93401
- The closest airport to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) is O'Sullivan Army Heliport (CSL), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SBP.
- San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) has 2 runways.
- Southwest Airways DC-3 flights to San Luis Obispo lasted from 1946 to 1956 when the airline moved its service to Paso Robles due to the short runway at San Luis Obispo not being able to accommodate more modern aircraft.
- The furthest airport from San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,446 miles (18,421 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- In 1987 the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport was dedicated as McChesney Field, in honor of Leroy E.