Nonstop flight route between Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Marysville, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lyneham (LYE), Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Beale Air Force Base (BAB), Marysville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,191 miles (or 8,354 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 Lyneham and Beale Air Force Base, 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 Lyneham and Beale Air Force Base. 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 Lyneham (LYE):

• The closest airport to RAF Lyneham (LYE) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of LYE.
• It was announced in July 2011 by the then-Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox, that Lyneham would become the new site of the Defence Technical Training Change Programme centre.
• The decision to close RAF Lyneham was made in 2002, and it was scheduled for closure by 2012 with all functions and aircraft relocated to RAF Brize Norton.
• From 1958 Lyneham became one of the 18 Stations designated as dispersal airfields for the RAF's nuclear deterrent V bomber Force.
• Because of RAF Lyneham's relatively low elevation of 512 feet, planes can take off or land at RAF Lyneham 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 station was opened on 18 May 1940 as No.
• The furthest airport from RAF Lyneham (LYE) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,913 miles (19,172 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• RAF Lyneham (LYE) has 2 runways.

Facts about Beale Air Force Base (BAB):

• DC-18 was initially under the San Francisco Air Defense Sector, established on 15 February 1959.
• In addition to being known as "Beale Air Force Base", another name for BAB is "Beale AFB".
• Eventually excess land from the former Army Camp was sold off to the public.
• The closest airport to Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Yuba County Airport (MYV), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of BAB.
• As a complete training environment, Camp Beale had tank maneuvers, mortar and rifle ranges, a bombardier-navigator training, and chemical warfare classes.
• The furthest airport from Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,251 miles (18,107 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate AFCON units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.
• Located in a cantonment area on the outskirts of Beale, the renamed 7th Space Warning Squadron is now an Air Force Space Command unit and it primarily uses its PAVE PAWS radar to detect submarine-launched ballistic missiles and disintegrating spacecraft and space debris.
• Half of the aircraft were maintained on 15-minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat.
• Beale AFB is the home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and located outside of Linda, about 10 miles east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City and about 40 miles north of Sacramento.