Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Cessnock Airport (CES), Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,480 miles (or 16,865 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 Cessnock 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Cessnock Airport. 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 closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• In 1937, Royal Air Force Bomber Command was drawing up plans for dispersal of their aircraft in the event of air raids on its stations.
• At one frying-pan-shaped hardstand on the north side of the airfield, an earth shooting-in butt was constructed.
• During this period, RAF Alconbury consisted of a few wooden huts but plans were made to provide both refuelling and rearmament facilities.
• 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.
• This was the time of the Blitz, when many parts of Britain were being subjected to an almost nightly series of heavy air raids.
• RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth are the last Second World War-era Eighth Air Force bases in Britain that are still actively in use and controlled by the United States Air Force.
• Squadrons 15 and 40 converted from Battles to Bristol Blenheim bombers, but did not take part in bombing raids with the new type until the German Blitzkrieg was unleashed in May 1940.

Facts about Cessnock Airport (CES):

• Built by the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942 during World War II named as RAAF Base Pokolbin, as part of a system of parent and satellite aerodromes proposed throughout New South Wales.
• Cessnock Airport (CES) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Cessnock Airport (CES) is Maitland Airport (MTL), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) NE of CES.
• Because of Cessnock Airport's relatively low elevation of 211 feet, planes can take off or land at Cessnock 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.
• The aerodrome was proposed to have the following satellite aerodromes, Glendon, Rothbury and Weston, however Rothbury and Weston do not appear to have been constructed.
• The furthest airport from Cessnock Airport (CES) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Cessnock Airport (meaning Cessnock Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,087 miles (19,451 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.