Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Carbondale/Murphysboro, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Southern Illinois Airport (MDH), Carbondale/Murphysboro, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,164 miles (or 6,701 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 Southern Illinois 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 Southern Illinois 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):

• The Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.

Facts about Southern Illinois Airport (MDH):

• Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) has 3 runways.
• The airport is capable of accommodating a variety of aircraft up to and including the Boeing 757.
• Because of Southern Illinois Airport's relatively low elevation of 411 feet, planes can take off or land at Southern Illinois 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.
• The furthest airport from Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,052 miles (17,786 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The airport is owned and operated by Southern Illinois Airport Authority, a local governmental entity created under state law.
• The closest airport to Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) is Williamson County Regional Airport (MWA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) E of MDH.