Nonstop flight route between Tampa, Florida, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MCF to BEX:
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- About this route
- MCF Airport Information
- BEX Airport Information
- Facts about MCF
- Facts about BEX
- Map of Nearest Airports to MCF
- List of Nearest Airports to MCF
- Map of Furthest Airports from MCF
- List of Furthest Airports from MCF
- Map of Nearest Airports to BEX
- List of Nearest Airports to BEX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BEX
- List of Furthest Airports from BEX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,379 miles (or 7,048 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 MacDill Air Force Base 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 MacDill Air Force Base and RAF Benson. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | MCF / KMCF |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Tampa, Florida, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 27°50'57"N by 82°31'15"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from MCF |
| More Information: | MCF Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BEX / EGUB |
| Airport Name: | RAF Benson |
| Location: | Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°36'59"N by 1°5'44"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from BEX |
| More Information: | BEX Maps & Info |
Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):
- In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
- The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- Flying operations at MacDill began in 1941 with the base's first mission being the defense of Gulf of Mexico.
- In addition to the antisubmarine mission, another prewar mission of MacDill was "Project X" the ferrying of combat aircraft eastward to the Philippines via ferrying routes set up by Ferrying Command over South Atlantic Ocean and Central Africa.
- MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately 4 miles south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
- On 24 June 1945 a hurricane hit the Tampa area, and the B-17 aircraft were evacuated to Vichy Army Airfield, Missouri.
- The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
- MacDill Field was one of two major Army Air Corps bases established in the Tampa Bay area in the buildup prior to World War II.
Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):
- 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 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.
- Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force station near Benson in South Oxfordshire, England.
- The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
- The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
