Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS), Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,712 miles (or 7,583 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 City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, 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 City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. 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 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• 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.
• On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.
• Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941.
• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England located 4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall, Suffolk and 8.3 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• 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.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.

Facts about City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS):

• City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) is United States Air Force Academy (AFF), which is located only 15 miles (25 kilometers) NNW of COS.
• Repairs to runway 17L/35R, first scheduled for 2011 but delayed by the FAA shutdown, will begin in spring 2012.
• In 1966 a new terminal was built on the west side of the runways, just east of Powers Boulevard.
• In 1927 the airport opened on 640 acres seven miles east of the city, with two gravel runways.
• The furthest airport from City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,940 miles (17,606 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,187 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at COS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make COS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.