Nonstop flight route between Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Francistown, Botswana:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW), Francistown, Botswana would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,327 miles (or 8,573 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 and Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 and Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air 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 Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ):

• In 1941, a Junkers Ju 88 was shot down by ground fire from Honington.
• English Electric Canberra bomber squadrons, 10, XV, 44, and 57 were based at RAF Honington from February 1955 to 1957.
• Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located 6 mi south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England.
• The furthest airport from RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,834 miles (19,044 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The 364th FG flew escort, dive-bombing, strafing, and patrol missions in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
• Converted from P-38 Lightnings to P-51 Mustangs in the summer of 1944 and from then until the end of the war flew many long-range escort missions heavy bombers that attacked oil refineries, industries, and other strategic objectives at Berlin, Regensburg, Merseburg, Stuttgart, Brussels, and elsewhere.
• The closest airport to RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WNW of BEQ.
• The group patrolled the English Channel during the Normandy invasion in June 1944, and, while continuing escort operations, supported ground forces in France after the invasion by strafing and bombing locomotives, marshalling yards, bridges, barges, and other targets.
• RAF Honington is also now home to 611 Volunteer Gliding Squadron due to the closure of RAF Watton in April 2012, requiring their conversion to the Grob 109B Vigilant motor glider.

Facts about Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW):

• Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW) is Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ), which is located 108 miles (174 kilometers) NE of FRW.
• The furthest airport from Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (FRW) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base (meaning Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,246 miles (19,707 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• In addition to being known as "Francistown International Airport/Francistown Air Base", another name for FRW is "FBFT [1]".
• Francistown Airport is a public airport in Francistown, Botswana.
• The estimated cost for all three expansion phases is expected to exceed P500 million, and will all be completed at the same time, around May 2010.