Nonstop flight route between Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,383 miles (or 7,054 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE):

• The furthest airport from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,426 miles (18,388 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Clearwater Air Park (CLW), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NW of PIE.
• Construction of the airport at its present site started in March 1941.
• In the 1950s some airlines provided service to both PIE and TPA, such as Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines and Northwest Airlines.
• Because of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Pete–Clearwater International 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.
• In September 2006, Allegiant Air announced significant scheduled service from St.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
• The airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK.
• 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 station retained a reconnaissance role for some years after the war, with Avro Lancaster, Spitfire, Mosquito, Gloster Meteor PR.Mk 10 and English Electric Canberra PR.Mk 3 aircraft.
• The future of RAF Benson was in doubt for some time, while Project Belvedere was looking into closing at least one of Joint Helicopter Command's airfields.
• Its Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after Operation Chastise.
• Building work for RAF Benson began in 1937.