Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Indiana, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU), Columbus, Indiana, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,004 miles (or 6,443 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 Municipal Airport and RAF Lakenheath, 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 Municipal Airport and RAF Lakenheath. 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 Municipal Airport (CLU):

• The furthest airport from Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,219 miles (18,054 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Columbus Municipal Airport is on the site of the former World War II Atterbury Army Airfield and United States Air Force Bakalar Air Force Base.
• Because of Columbus Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 656 feet, planes can take off or land at Columbus Municipal 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.
• Columbus Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles north of the central business district of Columbus, a city in Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States.
• Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Columbus Municipal Airport (CLU) is Freeman Municipal Airport (SER), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) S of CLU.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Municipal Airport", another name for CLU is "BAK".

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England.