Nonstop flight route between Jinchang, Gansu, China and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Jinchang Jinchuan Airport (JIC), Jinchang, Gansu, China and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,606 miles (or 7,412 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 Jinchang Jinchuan 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 Jinchang Jinchuan 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 Jinchang Jinchuan Airport (JIC):

• In addition to being known as "Jinchang Jinchuan Airport", other names for JIC include "金昌金川机场" and "Jīnchāng Jīnchuān Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Jinchang Jinchuan Airport (JIC) is Alxa Right Banner Badanjilin Airport (RHT), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) NW of JIC.
• Jinchang Jinchuan Airport (JIC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Jinchang Jinchuan Airport (JIC) is Pichoy Airport (ZAL), which is nearly antipodal to Jinchang Jinchuan Airport (meaning Jinchang Jinchuan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pichoy Airport), and is located 12,180 miles (19,602 kilometers) away in Valdivia, Chile.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of 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.
• In conjunction with this transfer, control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from Strategic Air Command back to USAFE.
• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• 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.