Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Takaka, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Takaka Aerodrome (KTF), Takaka, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,562 miles (or 18,608 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 Takaka Aerodrome, 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 Takaka Aerodrome. 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• A near nuclear accident occurred on 27 July 1956 – when a B-47 bomber crashed into a storage igloo at Lakenheath containing three MK-6 nuclear weapons while on a routine training mission.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.

Facts about Takaka Aerodrome (KTF):

• The furthest airport from Takaka Aerodrome (KTF) is Vila Real Airport (VRL), which is nearly antipodal to Takaka Aerodrome (meaning Takaka Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Vila Real Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,955 kilometers) away in Vila Real, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Takaka Aerodrome (KTF) is Motueka Aerodrome (MZP), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) SSE of KTF.
• Takaka Aerodrome (KTF) has 2 runways.
• Because of Takaka Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Takaka Aerodrome 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.