Nonstop flight route between Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Tulare, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom and Mefford Field (TLR), Tulare, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,341 miles (or 8,596 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 Mefford Field, 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 Mefford Field. 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):

• 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.
• 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 Luftwaffe made several attacks on the airfield one of which killed about twenty airmen who were crossing the old parade ground on their way to tea.
• 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.
• English Electric Canberra bomber squadrons, 10, XV, 44, and 57 were based at RAF Honington from February 1955 to 1957.

Facts about Mefford Field (TLR):

• In addition to being known as "Mefford Field", another name for TLR is "Tulare Airport".
• The closest airport to Mefford Field (TLR) is Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield (VIS), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NNW of TLR.
• The furthest airport from Mefford Field (TLR) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,364 miles (18,289 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Mefford Field (TLR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mefford Field's relatively low elevation of 265 feet, planes can take off or land at Mefford Field 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.
• Mefford Field, a civilian airfield located in Tulare, CA, served as the temporary site for the Rankin Aeronautical Academy, a flight school to teach United States Army Air Corps flight cadets.
• As Rankin Academy moved to its permanent site, Mefford Field returned to daily operations as a civilian airfield, which it continues to do to this day.