Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Tucson, Arizona, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BEX to DMA:
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- About this route
- BEX Airport Information
- DMA Airport Information
- Facts about BEX
- Facts about DMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to BEX
- List of Nearest Airports to BEX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BEX
- List of Furthest Airports from BEX
- Map of Nearest Airports to DMA
- List of Nearest Airports to DMA
- Map of Furthest Airports from DMA
- List of Furthest Airports from DMA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DMA), Tucson, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,261 miles (or 8,467 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 Davis–Monthan Air Force 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 Benson and Davis–Monthan Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BEX / EGUB |
| Airport Name: | RAF Benson |
| Location: | Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°36'59"N by 1°5'44"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from BEX |
| More Information: | BEX Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | DMA / KDMA |
| Airport Name: | Davis–Monthan Air Force Base |
| Location: | Tucson, Arizona, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 32°9'59"N by 110°52'59"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from DMA |
| More Information: | DMA Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):
- The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
- The Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
- 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 airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK.
- The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
- 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 station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
- 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.
Facts about Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DMA):
- One site under the 390 SMW, known both as Titan II Site 571-7 and as Air Force Facility Missile Site 8, was initially decommissioned in 1982.
- The closest airport to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DMA) is Tucson International Airport (TUS), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SW of DMA.
- The furthest airport from Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DMA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,508 miles (18,521 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- The Cold War era was ushered in at Davis-Monthan in March 1946, in the form of the 40th and 444th Bombardment Groups, both equipped with B-29s.
- The 1980s brought several diverse missions to D-M.
- The base was named in honor of World War I pilots Lieutenants Samuel H.
