Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Pell City, Alabama, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and St. Clair County Airport (PLR), Pell City, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,298 miles (or 6,917 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 St. Clair County 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 St. Clair County 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 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.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.

Facts about St. Clair County Airport (PLR):

• Because of St. Clair County Airport's relatively low elevation of 485 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Clair County 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 furthest airport from St. Clair County Airport (PLR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,212 miles (18,044 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to St. Clair County Airport (PLR) is Talladega Municipal Airport (ASN), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) E of PLR.
• St. Clair County Airport (PLR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Sammies Touch-n-Go restaurant is located on the North end of the airport.