Nonstop flight route between Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Agana, Guam:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Andersen Air Force Base (UAM), Agana, Guam would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,493 miles (or 12,059 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 Andersen 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 Andersen Air Force Base. 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 King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
• 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.
• Building work for RAF Benson began in 1937.
• The airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK.
• 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.

Facts about Andersen Air Force Base (UAM):

• B-29 Superfortress missions from North Field were attacks against strategic targets in Japan, initially operating in daylight and at high altitude to bomb factories, refineries, and other objectives.
• Andersen saw an end to its role in rotational duties when the B-47 was phased out and replaced by the B-52 Stratofortress.
• The furthest airport from Andersen Air Force Base (UAM) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Andersen Air Force Base (meaning Andersen Air Force Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Andersen Air Force Base (UAM) is Guam International Airport (GUM), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) SW of UAM.
• Guam was considered as being ideal to establish air bases to launch B-29 Superfortress operations against the Japanese Home Islands.
• The Strategic Air Command continued its 90-day unit rotational training program, and began to take over control over the base from the FEAF.
• In support of Operation Arc Light, SAC activated the 4133rd Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1966, though the 3960th Strategic Wing, originally activated in 1955 as the 3960th Air Base Wing, continued as the base's host wing until it was inactivated and replaced by the 43rd Strategic Wing on 1 April 1970.
• However, the FEAF Bomber Command was inactivated in 1954 and its three B-29 wings returned stateside and replaced with B-47s.