Nonstop flight route between Norfolk, Virginia, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Station Norfolk (NGU), Norfolk, Virginia, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,682 miles (or 5,926 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 Naval Station Norfolk 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 Naval Station Norfolk 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 Naval Station Norfolk (NGU):

• In addition to being known as "Naval Station Norfolk", another name for NGU is "Chambers Field".
• The closest airport to Naval Station Norfolk (NGU) is Norfolk International Airport (ORF), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ESE of NGU.
• Norfolk responded by renaming the road, Admiral Taussig Boulevard, in honor of the retiring commander of the Naval Operating Base.
• In January 1923, the Secretary of the Navy ordered a detailed study of the capacity of the bases and stations during war and peace.
• East Camp, with an area of about 1,000 acres between the east side of Naval Station and Granby Street, had been sold off by the Army at the end of World War I.
• Using the same theories of Eugene Ely's flight nearly 13 years earlier, another milestone was achieved.
• In 1940, the naval aircraft program passed Congress with a production goal of 10,000 new planes later increased 15,000.
• Naval Station Norfolk (NGU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Construction of the training camp began on Independence Day 1917, and within the first 30 days housing for 7,500 men had been completed.
• The furthest airport from Naval Station Norfolk (NGU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,762 miles (18,929 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about RAF Benson (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 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.
• The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
• 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.
• Building work for RAF Benson began in 1937.