Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and St. Louis, Missouri, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL), St. Louis, Missouri, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,160 miles (or 6,695 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 Lambert–St. Louis International 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 Lambert–St. Louis International 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 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 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 King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
• Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force station near Benson in South Oxfordshire, England.
• 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.
• 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 Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL):

• In 2006, the United States Air Force announced plans to turn the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard into the 131st Bomb Wing.
• Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL) has 4 runways.
• During the war, the airport became a manufacturing base for McDonnell Aircraft and Curtiss-Wright.
• On October 22, 2012, a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340 landed at Lambert carrying VA Executives, including Richard Branson to discuss and explore the likelihood of a St Louis Route.
• Because of Lambert–St. Louis International Airport's relatively low elevation of 605 feet, planes can take off or land at Lambert–St. Louis International 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.
• Lambert again grew in importance for TWA after the airline declared bankruptcy in 1993 and moved its headquarters to St.
• The closest airport to Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL) is St. Louis Downtown Airport (CPS), which is located only 16 miles (27 kilometers) SE of STL.
• By September 2002, Lambert's passenger traffic had declined by 16.9% from before the terrorist attacks a year earlier, which was the 8th biggest percentage drop of the major US airports.
• The furthest airport from Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,986 miles (17,681 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.