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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Chefornak Airport (CYF), Chefornak, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,614 miles (or 7,426 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 Chefornak 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 Chefornak 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):

• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• 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 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• 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.
• 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.
• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
• Meanwhile on 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A.
• Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.

Facts about Chefornak Airport (CYF):

• Chefornak Airport (CYF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Chefornak Airport (CYF) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,623 miles (17,096 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Chefornak Airport (CYF) is Kipnuk Airport (KPN), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) SSE of CYF.
• Because of Chefornak Airport's relatively low elevation of 40 feet, planes can take off or land at Chefornak 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.
• A new airstrip has been built further out from the village due to concerns with the current airstrip being near the school and pedestrian traffic, however, the runway must settle for several years before it is ready to be used.
• In addition to being known as "Chefornak Airport", another name for CYF is "CFK".