Nonstop flight route between High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Madera, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF High Wycombe (HYC), High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Madera Municipal Airport (MAE), Madera, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,301 miles (or 8,532 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 RAF High Wycombe and Madera Municipal Airport, 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 RAF High Wycombe and Madera Municipal Airport. 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 RAF High Wycombe (HYC):

• Operationally during the Cold War the Director UKWMO would have been located at the United Kingdom Regional Air Operations Command within Strike Command's Operations Centre nuclear bunker at RAF High Wycombe to instigate the national Four minute air raid warnings, with the Deputy Director located at a standby UK RAOC, described at the time as being "elsewhere in the UK", but has since been revealed as being at Goosnargh near Preston within the UKWMO Western Sector nuclear bunker.
• The site is a non-flying station and was home to RAF Strike Command before it became part of the newly formed RAF Air Command on 1 April 2007.
• The closest airport to RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is RAF Benson (BEX), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) WSW of HYC.
• To preserve secrecy, the station was known as "Southdown" in March 1940, as part of a directive by the Air Ministry.
• Buildings were designed to resemble other uses, such as the Officers' Mess which was built to look like a manor house.
• The station crest, incorporating a thunderbolt and two pillars to symbolise the support the station gave to Bomber Command, was approved on 23 November 1966.
• The Ministry of Defence and Serco Group agreed a ten-year contract in February 2010 whereby Serco would provide support services at RAF High Wycombe and RAF Halton, including leisure services, general engineering and catering.
• An Armed Forces Community Covenant between the station and Wycombe District Council was signed on 16 April 2012, designed to strengthen the links between the military and the local community.
• The furthest airport from RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,867 miles (19,098 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

Facts about Madera Municipal Airport (MAE):

• Madera Municipal Airport (MAE) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Madera Municipal Airport (MAE) is Fresno Chandler Executive AirportChandler Municipal Airport (Old) (FCH), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of MAE.
• The furthest airport from Madera Municipal Airport (MAE) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,322 miles (18,221 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of Madera Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 255 feet, planes can take off or land at Madera Municipal 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.