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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lyneham (LYE), Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom and Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI), Watsonville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,328 miles (or 8,574 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 Watsonville Municipal 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 Lyneham and Watsonville Municipal 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 Lyneham (LYE):

• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Lyneham (LYE) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of LYE.
• On 16 October 1946, 511 squadron was formed again as an Avro York operator.
• 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.
• On 14 October 1942, 511 squadron was formed from No.
• With the increase in air transport operations in the RAF, as opposed to ferrying, Transport Command was formed in March 1943.
• Lyneham's first runways were constructed during 1940 and 1941, the longest being 4,375 ft, the other 3,542 ft.

Facts about Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI):

• Because of Watsonville Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at Watsonville Municipal Airport 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 closest airport to Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI) is Hollister Municipal Airport (HLI), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) E of WVI.
• The furthest airport from Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,380 miles (18,315 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI) has 2 runways.
• Instrument pilots have been advised that Watsonville is occasionally surrounded by non-IFR traffic that climbs/descends to low stratus layer.
• The Navy took over in July, 1943, purchased an additional 35 acres, built support buildings and the concrete ramp.