Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Tanacross, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Tanacross Airport (TSG), Tanacross, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,203 miles (or 6,763 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 Tanacross 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 Tanacross 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 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 early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.

Facts about Tanacross Airport (TSG):

• Constructed 1943, activated September 20 by Air Transport Command as Station #16, Alaskan Wing, later 1464th AAFBU.
• Tanacross Airport (TSG) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Tanacross Airport (TSG) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,351 miles (16,659 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Tanacross Airport (TSG) is Tok Airport (TKJ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) ESE of TSG.
• In addition to being known as "Tanacross Airport", another name for TSG is "Tanacross Air Base".