Nonstop flight route between Erie, Pennsylvania, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Erie International Airport (ERI), Erie, Pennsylvania, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,651 miles (or 5,876 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 Erie International 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 Erie International 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 Erie International Airport (ERI):

• The furthest airport from Erie International Airport (ERI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,435 miles (18,402 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Erie International Airport handled 12,116 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Erie International Airport (ERI) is Port Meadville Airport (MEJ), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) S of ERI.
• Erie International Airport is a public airport five miles southwest of Erie, in Erie County.
• Because of Erie International Airport's relatively low elevation of 733 feet, planes can take off or land at Erie International 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.
• In addition to being known as "Erie International Airport", another name for ERI is "Tom Ridge Field".
• Taxis can reach the airport.
• Erie International Airport (ERI) has 2 runways.

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.
• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• 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.
• 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 reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• 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.
• 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.