Nonstop flight route between Novato, California, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Marin County Airport (NOT), Novato, California, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,303 miles (or 8,534 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 Marin County Airport 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 Marin County Airport 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 Marin County Airport (NOT):

• The Wrights original privately owned airport had a dirt runway and was just west of the current airport, in what is now a grassy field.
• In addition to being known as "Marin County Airport", other names for NOT include "Gnoss Field" and "DVO".
• Marin County Airport (NOT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Marin County Airport (NOT) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,343 miles (18,254 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• AWOS reports more closely conditions on the 31 end of the runway, and wind conditions are commonly significantly different on each end of the runway.
• The closest airport to Marin County Airport (NOT) is Napa County Airport (APC), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) ENE of NOT.
• In 1968 the County of Marin bought the airport and moved it to its present location.
• The airport was opened by the Wright family just after World War II to serve the thousands of ex-military pilots expected to be flying after the war.
• Because of Marin County Airport's relatively low elevation of 2 feet, planes can take off or land at Marin County 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.
• When Gnoss Field's crosswinds exceed pilot or aircraft limitations, local pilots generally land at Petaluma Municipal / K069, 327 magnetic heading) or Napa County Airport / KAPC, 058 magnetic heading).

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• Building work for RAF Benson began in 1937.
• 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.