Nonstop flight route between Grand Rapids, Minnesota, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport (GPZ), Grand Rapids, Minnesota, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,903 miles (or 6,281 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 Grand Rapids - Itasca County 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 Grand Rapids - Itasca County 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 Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport (GPZ):

• The furthest airport from Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport (GPZ) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,692 miles (17,207 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport (GPZ) is Range Regional Airport (HIB), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) ENE of GPZ.
• Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport (GPZ) has 3 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport", another name for GPZ is "Gordon Newstrom Field".
• Because of Grand Rapids - Itasca County Airport's relatively low elevation of 413 feet, planes can take off or land at Grand Rapids - Itasca County 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.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (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 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 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.