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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF High Wycombe (HYC), High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,416 miles (or 8,716 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 MCAS El Toro, 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 MCAS El Toro. 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):

• Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Air Ministry sought a safe location for RAF Bomber Command away from London.
• 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 closest airport to RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is RAF Benson (BEX), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) WSW of HYC.
• 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.
• Since 2009, the station has been responsible for reviewing UFO sightings as part of efforts to identify any possible unauthorised military incursions into UK airspace.

Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• The closing of MCAS El Toro ignited a political firestorm over the eventual fate of the facility.
• Because of MCAS El Toro's relatively low elevation of 383 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS El Toro 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.
• The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
• The base headquarters was established on November 4, 1942 and the first landing occurred in late November when a Major Micheal Carmichael, flying from Camp Kearny, was forced to make an emergency landing among the construction equipment.
• The Department of the Navy hired the General Services Administration and Los Angeles-based Colliers International to assist in the sale of MCAS El Toro.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
• Those against the airport proposal were largely residents of the cities in the immediate vicinity of El Toro, such as Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Dana Point, and Mission Viejo, where residents were alarmed at the idea of the aircraft noise.
• The furthest airport from MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,486 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The site is currently used as a filming location, including the test track for the United States version of BBC's Top Gear franchise.