Nonstop flight route between Point Lay, Alaska, United States and Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ), Point Lay, Alaska, United States and RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,991 miles (or 6,423 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 Point Lay LRRS Airport and RAF Brize Norton, 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 Point Lay LRRS Airport and RAF Brize Norton. 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 Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ):

• Because of Point Lay LRRS Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Point Lay LRRS 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 radar station was upgraded in the late 1980s with new radars and in 1989 was re-designated part of the North Warning System as a Long Range Radar Site, A-15, controlled by the Pacific Air Forces 611th Air Support Group, based at Elmendorf AFB.
• The closest airport to Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ) is Wainwright Airport (AIN), which is located 94 miles (152 kilometers) NE of PIZ.
• Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,387 miles (16,716 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.

Facts about RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):

• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• On 12 August 2006, campaigners restricted access at the main entrance for several hours in a protest against British policy in the Middle East.
• With the closure of RAF Lyneham taking place in late 2011, the repatriation of British personnel was relocated to Brize Norton on 8 September 2011.
• By the 1950s Cold War tension was escalating and the United States envisaged stationing nuclear bombers in the United Kingdom as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
• The station is home to Air Transport, Air-to-Air refuelling and Military Parachuting, with aircraft operating from the station including the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and Airbus A330 MRTT Voyager which replaced the now decommissioned Lockheed TriStar in March 2014.
• By 1950 the USAF Strategic Air Command was based at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham, and RAF Sculthorpe.