Nonstop flight route between Abilene, Texas, United States and Ruislip, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States and RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,871 miles (or 7,839 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 Dyess Air Force Base and RAF Northolt, 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 Dyess Air Force Base and RAF Northolt. 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 Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Dyess' first active combat unit was the 341st Bombardment Wing, which activated on 1 September 1955.
• On 1 October 1993, the 96 BW and 463 AW were both inactivated and replaced by the 7th Wing, a former B-52 and KC-135 wing that had been located at the former Carswell AFB which was being realigned as NAS Fort Worth JRB/Carswell ARS as a result of Base Realignment and Closure action.
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• Dyess AFB is a 6,409-acre base with over 13,000 military and civilian people.
• The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".

Facts about RAF Northolt (NHT):

• Much media attention focused on the airfield when the body of Diana, Princess of Wales, arrived there from Villacoublay airfield, in Paris, France, after her death in a car crash in the city on 31 August 1997.
• Since 1 June 1998, station commanders have served as aides-de-camp to Her Majesty the Queen.
• Northolt received its first gate guardian, a Spitfire F.Mk 22, in September 1963.
• The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• Northolt pre-dates the establishment of the Royal Air Force by almost three years, having opened in May 1915.
• During 1952 a total of 50,000 air movements were recorded per annum, making the airfield the busiest in Europe.
• Thirty Allied airmen including servicemen from Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom were killed flying from RAF Northolt during the Battle of Britain, of whom ten were Polish.