Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Santa Ana, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and John Wayne Airport (SNA), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,414 miles (or 8,712 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 John Wayne 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 John Wayne 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 closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
• 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 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.
• 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 John Wayne Airport (SNA):

• John Wayne International Airport is the sole commercial airport in Orange County.
• John Wayne Airport is an international airport in Orange County, California, with its mailing address in the city of Santa Ana, hence the IATA airport code.
• In 1926, Eddie Martin was finally able to acquire a hangar for his airport, a portable wooden building which sold for $350.
• The closest airport to John Wayne Airport (SNA) is MCAS El Toro (NZJ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) E of SNA.
• Because of John Wayne Airport's relatively low elevation of 56 feet, planes can take off or land at John Wayne 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 original single runway was 4,800 feet long, oriented on a magnetic heading of 210 degrees and 30 degrees.
• Martin and James Irvine made a deal for a five-year lease on 80 acres for $35 a month and founded a flying school on land owned by the Irvine Company.
• The main passenger terminal, the Thomas F.
• As of 2009, the largest airlines at John Wayne Airport were Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Air Tran, and Alaska Airlines.
• The airport has previously been served by Aloha Airlines, Virgin America and Air Canada.
• During the 1950s, the only airline flights were Bonanza's few flights between Los Angeles and Phoenix, via San Diego.
• The furthest airport from John Wayne Airport (SNA) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,490 miles (18,491 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• John Wayne Airport (SNA) has 2 runways.