Nonstop flight route between Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Orléans, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE), Orléans, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 304 miles (or 489 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 relatively short distance between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 and Orléans - Bricy Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ):

• Besides the air depot, Honington also housed an operational fighter unit when the 364th Fighter Group took up residence at Honington in February 1944, arriving from Santa Maria AAF, California.
• In the event, the F-111 never entered service with the RAF, and in 1968, the airfield became the UK base for the RAF's Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer bomber.
• IX Squadron flew the first RAF bombing raid of the Second World War on 4 September 1939 flying a mission against the Kriegsmarine in the Baltic resulting in the loss of two Wellingtons.
• 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 364th also flew air-sea rescue missions, engaged in patrol activities, and continued to support ground forces as the battle line moved through France and into Germany.
• Construction of Honington airfield began in 1935, and the facility was opened on 3 May 1937.
• 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.

Facts about Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE):

• The closest airport to Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) is Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) NNW of ORE.
• Orléans-Bricy Air Base was built prior to World War II as a French Air Force facility.
• Because of Orléans - Bricy Air Base's relatively low elevation of 314 feet, planes can take off or land at Orléans - Bricy Air Base 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 Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Orléans - Bricy Air Base (meaning Orléans - Bricy Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,136 miles (19,531 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Orléans - Bricy Air Base", other names for ORE include "Base aérienne 123", "« Commandant Charles Paoli »" and "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-50".
• Orléans – Bricy Air Base is a French Air Force base.
• Today, the base is a modern, fully equipped NATO base.
• Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Americans returned control of the base to the French Air Force at the end of October 1945 and it returned to being a French military airfield.