Nonstop flight route between Oakham, England, United Kingdom and Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Cottesmore (OKH), Oakham, England, United Kingdom and Goma Airport (GOM), Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,138 miles (or 6,660 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 Cottesmore and Goma 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 Cottesmore and Goma 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 Cottesmore (OKH):

• The TTTE closed in 1999, and after a period of refurbishment was replaced by the Harriers of Nos 3 and 4 squadrons.
• In early December 2009, it was announced the station would close due to funding cut-backs, in part to help pay for additional helicopters for British operations in Afghanistan.
• On 8 September 1943 the United States Army Air Forces took the facilities over, under the designation USAAF Station 489, flying troop transport aircraft.
• Because of RAF Cottesmore's relatively low elevation of 463 feet, planes can take off or land at RAF Cottesmore 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.
• Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton.
• The badge appears on the nameplate of the LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado steam locomotive that was named by HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall on 19 February 2009.
• The furthest airport from RAF Cottesmore (OKH) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,813 miles (19,011 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• RAF Cottesmore (OKH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The 316th Troop Carrier Group began to arrive at Cottesmore on 15 February 1944 when 52 C-47 and C-53 transports began flying in from Borizzo Afld., Sicily.
• The closest airport to RAF Cottesmore (OKH) is East Midlands Airport (EMA), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WNW of OKH.

Facts about Goma Airport (GOM):

• At 17:55 local time on 4 March 2013, a Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Fokker 50 from Lodja crashed short of landing in heavy rain, into a residential area.
• Initially built with a paved 3 km runway and a large terminal and apron, the airport has not recovered from the 2002 eruption of the volcano Nyiragongo, 14 km to the north.
• On 15 April 2008, a Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 overshot the runway during an aborted takeoff and crashed into the marketplace immediately to the south of the airport, killing over 40 people.
• Goma Airport (GOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Goma Airport (GOM) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,981 miles (19,282 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Because of Goma Airport's high elevation of 5,089 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GOM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GOM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Goma Airport (GOM) is Gisenyi Airport (GYI), which is located only 2 miles (2 kilometers) ESE of GOM.