Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Mississippi, United States and Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Air Force Base (CBM), Columbus, Mississippi, United States and RAF Lyneham (LYE), Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,301 miles (or 6,921 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 Columbus Air Force Base and RAF Lyneham, 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 Columbus Air Force Base and RAF Lyneham. 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 Columbus Air Force Base (CBM):

• The base began as a training facility for fighters and bombers.
• In 1965 the 454th converted to B-52D, which was re-engineered for conventional bomb missions over Southeast Asia, although some B-52Cs were also assigned during 1968–69.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Air Force Base", another name for CBM is "Columbus AFB".
• The host unit at Columbus is the 14th Flying Training Wing assigned to the Air Education and Training Command.
• But while the Air Force’s pilot training requirements were decreasing, its strategic air arm was expanding.During the 1950s, Strategic Air Command wings had become extremely large.
• With the end of World War II, Columbus AAF was first placed on "reduced activity status", and was inactivated on 15 August 1946.
• No one designated or suggested a name for the new base until 22 January 1942.
• When the war ended in 1945, the base strength had reached a peak of 2,300 enlisted men, 300 officers, and an average of 250 pilot cadets per class.
• Communist troops from North Korea violated South Korea's borders and fighting broke out in 1950.
• In 1992, ATC was inactivated and the 14 FTW came under the newly created Air Education and Training Command and AETC's 19th Air Force.
• The closest airport to Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Columbus-Lowndes County Airport (UBS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of CBM.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,088 miles (17,844 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about RAF Lyneham (LYE):

• The station closed on 31 December 2012 with the majority of its personnel and other assets having moved to RAF Brize Norton.
• RAF Lyneham (LYE) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to RAF Lyneham (LYE) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of LYE.
• In 1956, with the arrival of the de Havilland Comet operated by 216 Squadron, the main runway was extended from 6,000 feet to its present length of 7,830 feet.
• The furthest airport from RAF Lyneham (LYE) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,913 miles (19,172 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The airfield was built in 1939, necessitating the demolition of Lyneham Court manor house, the buildings of Cranley Farm and the village's tennis courts.
• Because of RAF Lyneham's relatively low elevation of 512 feet, planes can take off or land at RAF Lyneham 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.