Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,068 miles (or 6,547 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 The Eastern Iowa 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 The Eastern Iowa 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):

• In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
• A total of 67 bombers had been lost in RAF Bomber Command operations flown from Alconbury, eight were Blenheims and 59 Wellingtons.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID):

• The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) has 2 runways.
• On 3 June 2010 Runway 9/27 closed for reconstruction, reopening on 23 September.
• The closest airport to The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) is Iowa City Municipal Airport (IOW), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) SSE of CID.
• The airport is served almost entirely by regional jets.
• Usually the wait in the security line is a few minutes.
• The furthest airport from The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,883 miles (17,515 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of The Eastern Iowa Airport's relatively low elevation of 869 feet, planes can take off or land at The Eastern Iowa 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.
• Scheduled airline traffic shares the Eastern Iowa Airport with cargo and general aviation traffic.