Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Oak Harbor, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and NAS Whidbey Island (NUW), Oak Harbor, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,718 miles (or 7,593 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 NAS Whidbey Island, 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 NAS Whidbey Island. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.

Facts about NAS Whidbey Island (NUW):

• On January 17, 1941, almost 11 months before the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "NAS Whidbey Island", another name for NUW is "Ault Field".
• The closest airport to NAS Whidbey Island (NUW) is A.J. Eisenberg Airport (ODW), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) S of NUW.
• During the Korean War, patrol plane activity was stepped up again with several Naval Air Reserve units being called up and redesignated as active duty squadrons.
• In all, there are 17 active duty squadrons and 2 Ready Reserve squadrons currently based at NAS Whidbey Island.
• The furthest airport from NAS Whidbey Island (NUW) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,730 miles (17,268 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of NAS Whidbey Island's relatively low elevation of 47 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Whidbey Island 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.
• NAS Whidbey Island (NUW) has 2 runways.