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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Unalaska Airport (DUT), Unalaska, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,054 miles (or 8,134 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 Unalaska 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 Unalaska 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):

• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• 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.
• 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 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 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.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941.

Facts about Unalaska Airport (DUT):

• The furthest airport from Unalaska Airport (DUT) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 11,037 miles (17,763 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Unalaska Airport (DUT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Unalaska Airport (DUT) is Akutan Seaplane Base (KQA), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) ENE of DUT.
• In addition to being known as "Unalaska Airport", other names for DUT include "Dutch Harbor Airport" and "Tom Madsen Airport".
• Because of Unalaska Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Unalaska 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.
• Unalaska Airport is a state owned, public use airport in the City of Unalaska, on Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of the U.S.
• Unalaska Airport is the base for the "Dutch Harbor Approach" mission supplied with Microsoft Flight Simulator X.