Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Big Mountain, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Big Mountain Air Force Station (BMX), Big Mountain, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,597 miles (or 7,399 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 RAF Lakenheath and Big Mountain Air Force Station, 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 RAF Lakenheath and Big Mountain Air Force Station. 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 RAF Lakenheath (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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of 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.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.

Facts about Big Mountain Air Force Station (BMX):

• Big Mountain Air Force Station (BMX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Big Mountain Air Force Station (BMX) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,683 miles (17,193 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Because of Big Mountain Air Force Station's relatively low elevation of 663 feet, planes can take off or land at Big Mountain Air Force Station 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 Big Mountain Air Force Station (BMX) is Kokhanok Airport (KNK), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) ENE of BMX.
• In addition to being known as "Big Mountain Air Force Station", another name for BMX is "37AK".