Nonstop flight route between Oakham, England, United Kingdom and Santa Barbara, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Cottesmore (OKH), Oakham, England, United Kingdom and Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,396 miles (or 8,684 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 Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara 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 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.
• On 8 September 1943 the United States Army Air Forces took the facilities over, under the designation USAAF Station 489, flying troop transport aircraft.
• These units remained in residence until a few days before the outbreak of war in 1939 when they were sent to RAF Cranfield to serve as a pool providing replacements for combat losses.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Cottesmore (OKH) is East Midlands Airport (EMA), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WNW of OKH.
• In 1957 it was announced that Cottesmore would became a base for aircraft of the V bomber force, carriers of Britain's nuclear deterrent.
• With the introduction of the Eurofighter Typhoon into RAF service, No.3 Sqn moved to RAF Coningsby and No 1 Sqn moved from RAF Wittering.
• The station became a satellite to RAF Wittering on 31 March 2011 with a civic parade and flypast to mark the disbandment of No 1 Sqn RAF, 800 NAS, 801 NAS and JFH.

Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):

• The furthest airport from Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,487 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.
• There are two fixed based operators on the field, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, and three flight schools, Above All Aviation, Red Baron Aviation, and Spitfire Aviation.
• Because of Santa Barbara Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Barbara 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.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• In 1947 the Santa Barbara Flying Club was formed to promote general aviation in the region.
• On August 18, 2011 the airport opened a new 72,000 square foot terminal to add to the single story terminal built by United Airlines in 1942.
• The United Airlines system timetable dated February 1, 1937 listed daily round trip service flown with a Douglas DC-3 twin prop aircraft on a routing of Los Angeles-Santa Barbara-San Francisco-Oakland.