Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Kirksville, Missouri, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Kirksville Regional Airport (IRK), Kirksville, Missouri, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,214 miles (or 6,781 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 Kirksville Regional 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 Kirksville Regional 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 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.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.

Facts about Kirksville Regional Airport (IRK):

• A post-war boom in commercial aviation finally reached Kirksville in 1961 when Ozark Airlines began regular air service.
• Cape Air is the current air service provider, with an average of 900 to 1,000 passengers per month.
• The furthest airport from Kirksville Regional Airport (IRK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,860 miles (17,478 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Kirksville Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 966 feet, planes can take off or land at Kirksville Regional 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.
• Air Choice One began scheduled flight operations twice daily, to and from Lambert-St.
• The closest airport to Kirksville Regional Airport (IRK) is Trenton Municipal Airport (TRX), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) W of IRK.
• Kirksville Regional Airport (IRK) has 2 runways.