Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Shafter, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Shafter Airport (MIT), Shafter, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,365 miles (or 8,635 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 Shafter 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 Shafter 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• 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.
• 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.
• Many SAC Squadrons had aircraft at RAF Lakenheath on a transitotry basis without any recorded deployment to the base.
• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.

Facts about Shafter Airport (MIT):

• The furthest airport from Shafter Airport (MIT) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,404 miles (18,353 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• In addition to being known as "Shafter Airport", another name for MIT is "Minter Field".
• Shafter Airport, also known as Minter Field, is a public use airport located four nautical miles east of the central business district of Shafter, a city in Kern County, California, United States.
• Shafter-Minter Field covers an area of 1,206 acres at an elevation of 424 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Shafter Airport (MIT) is Meadows Field (BFL), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) ESE of MIT.
• In August, the first operational training units s began arriving at Minter, the airfields mission being advanced pilot training of USAAC bomber, attack, transport and pursuit pilots.
• Shafter Airport (MIT) has 2 runways.
• Because of Shafter Airport's relatively low elevation of 424 feet, planes can take off or land at Shafter 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.