Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Taos, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Taos Regional Airport (TSM), Taos, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,871 miles (or 7,840 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 Taos Regional 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 Taos Regional 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):

• Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.
• 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 reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.

Facts about Taos Regional Airport (TSM):

• The furthest airport from Taos Regional Airport (TSM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,106 miles (17,873 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Taos Regional Airport's high elevation of 7,095 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at TSM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make TSM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Taos Regional Airport (TSM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Taos Regional Airport is a public-use airport located eight nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Taos, in Taos County, New Mexico, United States.
• The closest airport to Taos Regional Airport (TSM) is Ohkay Owingeh Airport (ESO), which is located 36 miles (59 kilometers) SW of TSM.
• In addition to being known as "Taos Regional Airport", another name for TSM is "SKX".