Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Cahokia, Illinois (near St. Louis), United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS), Cahokia, Illinois (near St. Louis), United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,161 miles (or 6,696 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 Benson and St. Louis Downtown 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 Benson and St. Louis Downtown 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 Benson (BEX):

• Benson is currently home to 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron, 33 Squadron, 230 Squadron and also to Oxford University Air Squadron and No.
• Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
• The station retained a reconnaissance role for some years after the war, with Avro Lancaster, Spitfire, Mosquito, Gloster Meteor PR.Mk 10 and English Electric Canberra PR.Mk 3 aircraft.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.

Facts about St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS):

• The furthest airport from St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,998 miles (17,700 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of St. Louis Downtown Airport's relatively low elevation of 413 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Louis Downtown Airport 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.
• St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) has 3 runways.
• Historic Hangar #2 houses the Greater Saint Louis Air & Space Museum and the airport is still home to the nation's oldest flight school, Parks College of Engineering and Aviation's Center for Aerospace Sciences, which holds CAA Flight School Certificate #1.
• The two survivors out of the airport's original four hangars, Hangar 1 and Hangar 2, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• The closest airport to St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS) is Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL), which is located only 16 miles (27 kilometers) NW of CPS.