Nonstop flight route between San Diego, California, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MCAS Miramar, (NKX), San Diego, California, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,454 miles (or 8,778 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 MCAS Miramar, and RAF Lakenheath, 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 MCAS Miramar, and RAF Lakenheath. 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 MCAS Miramar, (NKX):

• By the time World War II began, Miramar was already undergoing a “precautionary” renovation.
• The furthest airport from MCAS Miramar, (NKX) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,530 miles (18,556 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "MCAS Miramar,", another name for NKX is "Mitscher Field".
• The closest airport to MCAS Miramar, (NKX) is Montgomery Field (MYF), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) S of NKX.
• Because of MCAS Miramar,'s relatively low elevation of 478 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS Miramar, 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.
• During the 1940s, both the Navy and the Marine Corps occupied Miramar.
• MCAS Miramar, (NKX) has 3 runways.
• In 2006, the San Diego County Proposition A proposed obtaining 3000 acres at MCAS Miramar to develop a commercial airport.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England located 4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall, Suffolk and 8.3 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk.
• The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.