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 the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I, when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from elsewhere in the area.
• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
• 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 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.

Facts about Mineral Wells Airport (MWL):

• Mineral Wells Airport is a public airport three miles southeast of Mineral Wells, Texas.
• Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• In 1975 orders deactivating the base were issued.
• In addition to being known as "Mineral Wells Airport", other names for MWL include "(former Wolters Air Force Base)" and "(former Wolters Army Airfield)".
• 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.
• 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.
• The Vietnam War increased the need for pilots, and the base became the home for training not just army personnel, but also helicopter pilots for the Marine Corps in 1968 and for the Air Force in 1970.