Nonstop flight route between Laurel, Mississippi, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hesler-Noble Field (LUL), Laurel, Mississippi, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,462 miles (or 7,180 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 Hesler-Noble Field and RAF Benson, 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 Hesler-Noble Field and RAF Benson. 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 Hesler-Noble Field (LUL):

• The furthest airport from Hesler-Noble Field (LUL) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,037 miles (17,763 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways and a large apron and a control tower.
• Initially, the mission of the new Air Force field was to fly antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico, with the 69th Observation Group flying the from November 1942 until March 1943.
• Because of Hesler-Noble Field's relatively low elevation of 238 feet, planes can take off or land at Hesler-Noble 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.
• Hesler-Noble Field covers 1,350 acres at an elevation of 238 feet.
• In Mid-1943 Laurel AAF's mission changed to training medium and light bomber crews and photo reconnaissance units for deployment overseas.
• Hesler-Noble Field (LUL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Hesler-Noble Field", another name for LUL is "(former Laurel Army Airfield)".
• The closest airport to Hesler-Noble Field (LUL) is Hattiesburg–Laurel Regional Airport (PIB), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) SW of LUL.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The furthest airport from RAF Benson (BEX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,879 miles (19,118 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
• The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron with Merlin helicopters and 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron with Puma helicopters.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
• The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.