Nonstop flight route between Pilot Station, Alaska, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pilot Station Airport (PQS), Pilot Station, Alaska, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,485 miles (or 7,217 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 Pilot Station Airport and RAF Lakenheath, 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 Pilot Station Airport and RAF Lakenheath. 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 Pilot Station Airport (PQS):

• Pilot Station Airport (PQS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Pilot Station Airport", another name for PQS is "0AK".
• The furthest airport from Pilot Station Airport (PQS) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,503 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Because of Pilot Station Airport's relatively low elevation of 305 feet, planes can take off or land at Pilot Station 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 Pilot Station Airport (PQS) is St. Mary's Airport (KSM), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) NW of PQS.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
• On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• Meanwhile on 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England.
• The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.