Nonstop flight route between Alexander City, Alabama, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from ALX to BEX:
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- About this route
- ALX Airport Information
- BEX Airport Information
- Facts about ALX
- Facts about BEX
- Map of Nearest Airports to ALX
- List of Nearest Airports to ALX
- Map of Furthest Airports from ALX
- List of Furthest Airports from ALX
- Map of Nearest Airports to BEX
- List of Nearest Airports to BEX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BEX
- List of Furthest Airports from BEX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Thomas C. Russell Field (ALX), Alexander City, Alabama, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,270 miles (or 6,872 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 Thomas C. Russell Field and RAF Benson, 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 Thomas C. Russell Field and RAF Benson. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | ALX / KALX |
Airport Name: | Thomas C. Russell Field |
Location: | Alexander City, Alabama, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 32°54'52"N by 85°57'47"W |
Area Served: | Alexander City, Alabama |
Operator/Owner: | City of Alexander City |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 686 feet (209 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from ALX |
More Information: | ALX Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BEX / EGUB |
Airport Name: | RAF Benson |
Location: | Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°36'59"N by 1°5'44"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from BEX |
More Information: | BEX Maps & Info |
Facts about Thomas C. Russell Field (ALX):
- The closest airport to Thomas C. Russell Field (ALX) is Sharpe FieldTuskegee Army Airfield (TGE), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SSE of ALX.
- The furthest airport from Thomas C. Russell Field (ALX) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,222 miles (18,060 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Thomas C. Russell Field (ALX) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Thomas C. Russell Field's relatively low elevation of 686 feet, planes can take off or land at Thomas C. Russell Field 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.
- This airport is included in the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 and 2009–2013, both of which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):
- The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
- The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- The future of RAF Benson was in doubt for some time, while Project Belvedere was looking into closing at least one of Joint Helicopter Command's airfields.
- The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
- The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
- Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
- The station retained a reconnaissance role for some years after the war, with Avro Lancaster, Spitfire, Mosquito, Gloster Meteor PR.Mk 10 and English Electric Canberra PR.Mk 3 aircraft.
- The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.