Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS), Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,687 miles (or 7,543 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 City of Colorado Springs Municipal 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 City of Colorado Springs Municipal 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In the spring of 1938, the Air Ministry acquired about 150 acres of open meadowland at Alconbury Hill, Huntingdonshire, expressly for use as a satellite airfield.
• RAF Alconbury is also the home of the 501st Combat Support Wing.
• In late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.
• The host unit at RAF Alconbury is the 423rd Air Base Group which supplies host unit services for Alconbury as well as RAF Molesworth.

Facts about City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS):

• The closest airport to City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) is United States Air Force Academy (AFF), which is located only 15 miles (25 kilometers) NNW of COS.
• City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,940 miles (17,606 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,187 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at COS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make COS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.