Nonstop flight route between Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Columbus, Mississippi, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lyneham (LYE), Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Columbus Air Force Base (CBM), Columbus, Mississippi, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,301 miles (or 6,921 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 Columbus 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 Columbus 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 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.
• 511 Squadron was formed again at RAF Lyneham on 15 December 1959, as the second squadron to operate the Bristol Britannia on long-range trooping flights.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Lyneham (LYE) has 2 runways.
• A single enemy aircraft attacked the station on 19 September 1940, dropping an incendiary and two high explosive bombs before strafing part of the airfield.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lyneham (LYE) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of LYE.

Facts about Columbus Air Force Base (CBM):

• No one designated or suggested a name for the new base until 22 January 1942.
• On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 30th Flying Training Wing at Columbus and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Flying Training Command.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Air Force Base", another name for CBM is "Columbus AFB".
• As the demand for pilots to support the war in Southeast Asia increased, the number of B-52s based stateside fell because they were needed overseas.
• The school used a number of trainers, including the AT-8, AT-9, AT-10, and B-25.
• During World War II, the training load gradually increased until Columbus was graduating 195 pilots per month.
• The base began an active four-year rebuilding program to prepare the base for its new mission and to be part of SAC's base dispersal system.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,088 miles (17,844 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Columbus-Lowndes County Airport (UBS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of CBM.