Nonstop flight route between Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kempsey Airport (KPS), Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,406 miles (or 16,746 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 Kempsey 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 Kempsey 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 Kempsey Airport (KPS):

• Kempsey Airport (KPS) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Kempsey Airport (KPS) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Kempsey Airport (meaning Kempsey Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,013 miles (19,332 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Kempsey Airport (KPS) is Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) SSE of KPS.
• Because of Kempsey Airport's relatively low elevation of 54 feet, planes can take off or land at Kempsey 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.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.
• 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.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• Following French president Charles de Gaulle's insistence in 1959 that all non-French nuclear-capable forces should be withdrawn from his country, the USAF began a redeployment of its North American F-100-equipped units from France.
• 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.