Nonstop flight route between Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from PUK to BEX:
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- About this route
- PUK Airport Information
- BEX Airport Information
- Facts about PUK
- Facts about BEX
- Map of Nearest Airports to PUK
- List of Nearest Airports to PUK
- Map of Furthest Airports from PUK
- List of Furthest Airports from PUK
- Map of Nearest Airports to BEX
- List of Nearest Airports to BEX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BEX
- List of Furthest Airports from BEX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Pukarua Airport (PUK), Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,123 miles (or 14,682 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 Pukarua 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 Pukarua Airport and RAF Benson. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | PUK / NTGQ |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 18°17'44"S by 137°1'0"W |
| Area Served: | Pukarua |
| Operator/Owner: | DSEAC Polynésie Française |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from PUK |
| More Information: | PUK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BEX / EGUB |
| Airport Name: | RAF Benson |
| Location: | Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°36'59"N by 1°5'44"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from BEX |
| More Information: | BEX Maps & Info |
Facts about Pukarua Airport (PUK):
- Pukarua Airport (PUK) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Nukutavake Airport (NUK), which is located 134 miles (215 kilometers) WSW of PUK.
- The furthest airport from Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Abha Regional Airport (AHB), which is nearly antipodal to Pukarua Airport (meaning Pukarua Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Abha Regional Airport), and is located 12,415 miles (19,980 kilometers) away in Abha / Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia.
- In addition to being known as "Pukarua Airport", another name for PUK is "Aérodrome de Pukarua".
Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):
- The airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK.
- The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
- 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 closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.
- 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 Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
