Nonstop flight route between Wilmington, Delaware, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG), Wilmington, Delaware, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,580 miles (or 5,762 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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 Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG):

• Because of Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 80 feet, planes can take off or land at Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional 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.
• On June 29, 2006 a Delta Air Lines affiliate began flights from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Wilmington-Philadelphia Regional Airport, the first airline service in six years.
• The furthest airport from Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,724 miles (18,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• After the war ended control of the airport was returned to civil authorities.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation reliever airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 642 passenger boardings in calendar year 2011 and 1,064 passenger boardings in 2012.
• Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport (ILG) is Philadelphia Seaplane BaseChandler Field (PSQ), which is located 21 miles (33 kilometers) NE of ILG.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• 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.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• 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.
• Meanwhile on 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A.
• 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.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• 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.
• 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.