Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Spokane, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BEX to SKA:
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- About this route
- BEX Airport Information
- SKA Airport Information
- Facts about BEX
- Facts about SKA
- 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 SKA
- List of Nearest Airports to SKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SKA
- List of Furthest Airports from SKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,624 miles (or 7,442 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 Fairchild 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 Fairchild 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: | SKA / KSKA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Spokane, Washington, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°36'54"N by 117°39'20"W |
View all routes: | Routes from SKA |
More Information: | SKA 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 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.
- 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 King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
- The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):
- In late 1974, the Air Force announced plans to convert the 141st Fighter Interceptor Group of the Washington Air National Guard, an F-101 Voodoo unit at Geiger Field, to an air refueling mission with KC-135 aircraft.
- The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
- The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- Since 1942, Fairchild Air Force Base/Station has been a key part of the United States' defense strategy—from World War II repair depot, to Strategic Air Command bomber wing during the Cold War, to Air Mobility Command air refueling wing during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
- In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
- 7 December 1993 marked the beginning of a significant change in the mission of Fairchild when the B-52s were transferred to another ACC base while the KC-135s, now assigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command would remain.
- Fairchild AFB was established in 1942 as the Spokane Air Depot.
- The host unit at Fairchild is the 92d Air Refueling Wing assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force.