Nonstop flight route between Castres, Languedoc, France and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM), Castres, Languedoc, France and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 617 miles (or 993 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 relatively short distance between Castres - Mazamet Airport and RAF Lakenheath, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM):

• In addition to being known as "Castres - Mazamet Airport", another name for DCM is "Aéroport de Castres - Mazamet".
• Because of Castres - Mazamet Airport's relatively low elevation of 785 feet, planes can take off or land at Castres - Mazamet 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.
• Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM) is Carcassonne Airport (CCF), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) S of DCM.
• The furthest airport from Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Castres - Mazamet Airport (meaning Castres - Mazamet Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,372 miles (19,910 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of 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.
• In early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.
• 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.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons.