Nonstop flight route between Camp San Luis Obispo, California, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between O'Sullivan Army Heliport (CSL), Camp San Luis Obispo, California, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,423 miles (or 8,727 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 O'Sullivan Army Heliport 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 O'Sullivan Army Heliport 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 O'Sullivan Army Heliport (CSL):

• The closest airport to O'Sullivan Army Heliport (CSL) is San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) SE of CSL.
• The furthest airport from O'Sullivan Army Heliport (CSL) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,442 miles (18,414 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of O'Sullivan Army Heliport's relatively low elevation of 250 feet, planes can take off or land at O'Sullivan Army Heliport 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.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• 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 April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.