Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM), Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,209 miles (or 5,165 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 Portsmouth International Airport at Pease, 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 Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. 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):

• During this period, RAF Alconbury consisted of a few wooden huts but plans were made to provide both refuelling and rearmament facilities.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition, two underground gasoline storage facilities, with a total capacity of 216,000 gallons were situated at points adjacent to the perimeter track, but at some distance from the explosive storage area.
• The group comprises six squadrons—security forces and civil engineer, air base, medical and services—and supports tenant units.
• The 501 CSW ensures United Kingdom-based air base groups are resourced, sustained, trained and equipped to exacting command standards in order to provide mission support that enables United States and NATO war fighters to conduct full spectrum flying operations during expeditionary deployments, theatre munitions movements, global command and control communications to forward deployed locations, support for theatre intelligence operations and joint/combined training.
• This was the time of the Blitz, when many parts of Britain were being subjected to an almost nightly series of heavy air raids.

Facts about Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM):

• The closest airport to Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM) is Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport (SFM), which is located 23 miles (36 kilometers) NNE of PSM.
• Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Pease was one of 7 Launch Abort Sites and one of 18 Emergency Landing Sites for NASA space shuttle orbiters.
• Because of Portsmouth International Airport at Pease's relatively low elevation of 100 feet, planes can take off or land at Portsmouth International Airport at Pease 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 furthest airport from Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,729 miles (18,875 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.