Nonstop flight route between Bloomington, Illinois, United States and Ruislip, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (BMI), Bloomington, Illinois, United States and RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,050 miles (or 6,518 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 Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal and RAF Northolt, 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 Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal and RAF Northolt. 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 Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (BMI):

• Because of Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal's relatively low elevation of 871 feet, planes can take off or land at Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal 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 following summer, on July 11, 1929, a larger crowd, estimated at 15,000, gathered at the airfield for the Central Illinois Air Derby.
• Nothing survives of the old airport, but a historic marker near the north end of Constitution Trail commemorates the site.
• The closest airport to Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (BMI) is General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (PIA), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) WNW of BMI.
• Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (BMI) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (BMI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,045 miles (17,775 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The Prairie Aviation Museum is on the west side of the airport.

Facts about RAF Northolt (NHT):

• Starting in 1946 the airfield was used by civil aviation during the construction of nearby Heathrow Airport.
• In 1916, No. 43 Squadron was formed under the command of Major Sholto Douglas.
• Civil flights ceased when the central area at Heathrow opened in 1954 with Northolt reverting to sole military use in May that year.
• RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 nautical miles from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, west London.
• During 1952 a total of 50,000 air movements were recorded per annum, making the airfield the busiest in Europe.
• The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• Thirty Allied airmen including servicemen from Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom were killed flying from RAF Northolt during the Battle of Britain, of whom ten were Polish.
• The remains of a Hawker Hurricane flown by Flying Officer Ludwik Witold Paszkiewicz, the first pilot in No. 303 Squadron to shoot down an enemy aircraft, were donated to the station in June 2008.