Nonstop flight route between Lancing, West Sussex, United Kingdom and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shoreham Airport (ESH), Lancing, West Sussex, United Kingdom and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,973 miles (or 8,004 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 Shoreham Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Shoreham Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Shoreham Airport (ESH):

• On 15 September 2007, a Second World War vintage Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft involved in the RAFA Air Display crashed near Lancing College.
• In 1949, F G Miles Engineering Ltd moved to Shoreham from Redhill Aerodrome and soon occupied the repaired Municipal Hangar.
• Shoreham Airport (ESH) has 4 runways.
• During the First World War the aerodrome was used by the Royal Flying Corps.
• In addition to being known as "Shoreham Airport", another name for ESH is "Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport".
• Because of Shoreham Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Shoreham 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.
• Shoreham Airport handled 1,500 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Shoreham Airport (ESH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,919 miles (19,182 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The South East Air Support Unit operates from Shoreham Airport.
• Shoreham has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
• The closest airport to Shoreham Airport (ESH) is Chichester/Goodwood Airport (QUG), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) W of ESH.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• In its continuing effort to cut costs, ATC made some major changes in the undergraduate pilot training program.
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• At Webb AFB, the last two pilot training classes completed course work on 30 August 1977, and fixed wing qualification training ended on 1 September 1977.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• The base was declared surplus and was turned over to the War Assets Administration after being closed.
• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In 1956, the Air Defense Command 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred to Webb from Stewart Air Force Base in New York to defend the southern United States border on air intercept missions as part of the Central Air Defense Force.
• Webb AFB was turned over to the General Services Agency for disposal on 1 January 1978 and the property later turned over to the Big Spring Industrial Park.