Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Bossier City, Louisiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD), Bossier City, Louisiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,613 miles (or 7,423 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Barksdale Air Force Base, 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Barksdale Air Force Base. 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• The technical site on the north-west side was expanded where a single T2 hangar was also erected.
• 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 May 1942, RAF Alconbury was allocated to the United States Eighth Air Force when a number of stations in East Anglia were turned over to the Americans after their entry into the war.
• The group comprises six squadrons—security forces and civil engineer, air base, medical and services—and supports tenant units.
• 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.
• Satellite bases were considered one answer to this threat – a landing ground within reasonable road travel distance of the parent airfield to which aircraft could be diverted if the home station was bombed or likely to be attacked.

Facts about Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD):

• The closest airport to Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) WNW of BAD.
• The furthest airport from Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,884 miles (17,516 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• On 1 November 1949, Barksdale was reassigned to Strategic Air Command, and became home of Headquarters Second Air Force.
• Barksdale is one of two remaining bases with assigned B-52 aircraft, all H models.
• In addition to being known as "Barksdale Air Force Base", another name for BAD is "Barksdale AFB".
• Captain Harris selected what he felt was an adequate location for a military airfield.
• Also during World War II Barksdale played host to the major contingent of the Free French Air Forces and Nationalist Chinese aircrews.