Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Mineral Wells, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Mineral Wells Airport (MWL), Mineral Wells, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,794 miles (or 7,715 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 Mineral Wells 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 Mineral Wells 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):

• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.

Facts about Mineral Wells Airport (MWL):

• The furthest airport from Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,980 miles (17,670 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) is Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (FWH), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) E of MWL.
• Mineral Wells donated 50 acres of land, leased 2,300 acres, and in World War II provided land to increase the camp's area to 7,500 acres.
• Because of Mineral Wells Airport's relatively low elevation of 974 feet, planes can take off or land at Mineral Wells 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mineral Wells Airport", other names for MWL include "(former Wolters Air Force Base)" and "(former Wolters Army Airfield)".
• A portion of the land was transferred by the United States government to the state of Texas for development as part of Lake Mineral Wells State Park.