Nonstop flight route between Joliet, Illinois, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Joliet Regional Airport (JOT), Joliet, Illinois, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,982 miles (or 6,409 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 Joliet 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 Joliet 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 Joliet Regional Airport (JOT):

• The furthest airport from Joliet Regional Airport (JOT) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,066 miles (17,810 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Joliet Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles west of the central business district of Joliet, a city in Will County, Illinois, United States.
• Joliet Regional Airport (JOT) has 2 runways.
• Joliet's first airport, Originally known as Joliet Municipal Airport, was proposed by Illinois Senator Richard Barr in the mid-1920s.
• Because of Joliet Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 582 feet, planes can take off or land at Joliet 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.
• The closest airport to Joliet Regional Airport (JOT) is Lewis University Airport (LOT), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) NNE of JOT.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of 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 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 first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I, when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from elsewhere in the area.
• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.