Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Pensacola, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and NOLF Saufley Field (NUN), Pensacola, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,498 miles (or 7,238 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 NOLF Saufley Field, 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 NOLF Saufley Field. 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):

• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.

Facts about NOLF Saufley Field (NUN):

• In 1979, Saufley Field was redesignated as both OLF Saufley Field and Naval Education and Training Program Development Center Saufley Field following the latter activity's relocation from the nearby NETPDC Ellyson Field, Florida.
• The closest airport to NOLF Saufley Field (NUN) is Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SSE of NUN.
• NOLF Saufley Field (NUN) has 2 runways.
• In September 2004, the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated Saufley Field as a temporary Logistical Staging Area for Federal, State and non-governmental agencies in response to Hurricane Ivan, considered one of the worst storms ever to hit the United States until that point.
• Because of NOLF Saufley Field's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at NOLF Saufley Field 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 furthest airport from NOLF Saufley Field (NUN) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,146 miles (17,937 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.