Nonstop flight route between Clovis, New Mexico, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS), Clovis, New Mexico, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,901 miles (or 7,887 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 Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF 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 Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF 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 Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS):

• After the United States entered World War II, the first military unit to use the facility was a glider detachment.
• Clovis AFB remained on standby status until 1 April 1950 when jurisdiction was transferred from SAC to Air Training Command.
• In addition to being known as "Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF", another name for CVS is "Cannon AFB".
• 1959 brought organizational changes at Cannon AFB.
• The furthest airport from Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,139 miles (17,926 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS) is Clovis Municipal Airport (CVN), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) ENE of CVS.
• On 1 January 1969 the 4427th Tactical Training Squadron replaced the 4585th SS.
• Each squadron was equipped with F-86F Sabres.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England located 4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall, Suffolk and 8.3 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I, when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from elsewhere in the area.
• In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.
• 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 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.
• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.