Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Marysville, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Beale Air Force Base (BAB), Marysville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,262 miles (or 8,469 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 Gatwick Airport and Beale Air Force Base, 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 Gatwick Airport and Beale Air Force Base. 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• BEA Helicopters made Gatwick their administrative and engineering base on 1 January 1964.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• The name "Gatwick" was first recorded as "Gatwik" in 1241 on the site of today's airport, on the northern edge of the North Terminal's aircraft taxiing area.
• The third extension to Gatwick's runway was completed in 1973, bringing it to 10,165 ft and allowing for non-stop narrow-body operations to the US west coast and commercially viable, long-range wide-body operations.Wardair became the first airline to operate Boeing 747s at Gatwick.KLM augmented its Heathrow–Amsterdam service with a Gatwick–Amsterdam route, making it the first non-UK airline to split operations between Heathrow and Gatwick for commercial reasons rather than to comply with government directives.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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 1 April 1961, BEA began operating half its London–Paris flights from Gatwick.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In May 1950, Gatwick's first charter flight left the airport's original grass runway for Calvi on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Facts about Beale Air Force Base (BAB):

• DC-18 was initially under the San Francisco Air Defense Sector, established on 15 February 1959.
• The furthest airport from Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,251 miles (18,107 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The 100 ARW remained at Beale until 15 March 1983 its assets absorbed by the senior 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, which became a composite wing under the one-base, one-wing concept.
• As a complete training environment, Camp Beale had tank maneuvers, mortar and rifle ranges, a bombardier-navigator training, and chemical warfare classes.
• The base is named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale, an American Navy Lieutenant and a Brigadier General in the California Militia who was an explorer and frontiersman in California.
• Eventually excess land from the former Army Camp was sold off to the public.
• The Air Force activated the 851st Strategic Missile Squadron on 1 April 1961.
• In 1940, the "Camp Beale" area consisted of grassland and rolling hills and the 19th century mining town of Spenceville.
• Half of the aircraft were maintained on 15-minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat.
• In addition to being known as "Beale Air Force Base", another name for BAB is "Beale AFB".
• The closest airport to Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Yuba County Airport (MYV), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of BAB.