Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Drietabbetje, Suriname:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Drietabbetje Airstrip (DRJ), Drietabbetje, Suriname would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,572 miles (or 7,358 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 Drietabbetje Airstrip, 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 Drietabbetje Airstrip. 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):

• 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.
• Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of 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.

Facts about Drietabbetje Airstrip (DRJ):

• Because of Drietabbetje Airstrip's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at Drietabbetje Airstrip 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 furthest airport from Drietabbetje Airstrip (DRJ) is Namrole Airport (NRE), which is nearly antipodal to Drietabbetje Airstrip (meaning Drietabbetje Airstrip is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Namrole Airport), and is located 12,341 miles (19,861 kilometers) away in Buru, Indonesia.
• The closest airport to Drietabbetje Airstrip (DRJ) is Stoelmans Eiland Airstrip (SMZ), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) NE of DRJ.