Nonstop flight route between Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Houston, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rochester Airport (RCS), Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), Houston, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,877 miles (or 7,850 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 Rochester Airport and Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field, 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 Rochester Airport and Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field. 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 Rochester Airport (RCS):

• In 1938, No 23 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School came to Rochester.
• Local ward councillors are very enthusiastic about the proposals and once they are implemented should see the Airport being available for use for a greater part of the year due to an all weather surface being planned for the 02/20 runway.
• Shorts concentrated their work in Belfast, leaving the Medway towns in 1946.
• In 1999 a group of aviators and local businessmen at Rochester formed a company dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the long tradition of aviation at Rochester Airport, its service to the local community and for its longer term preservation.
• In 1979 the lease reverted to the council and after giving thorough consideration to closing the airport the General Electric Company plc comprising Marconi Electronic Systems and instrument makers Elliot Automation decided to take over management of the airport maintaining two runways as grass whilst releasing some land for light industrial expansion.
• Rochester Airport is an operational general aviation aerodrome located 1.5 nautical miles south of Rochester, Medway, South East England, with the River Medway 1.5 NM from the end of runway 34, 3.4 mi from Chatham and its Historic Dockyard and the Medway area.
• The furthest airport from Rochester Airport (RCS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,897 miles (19,146 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Rochester Airport (RCS) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Rochester Airport (RCS) is London Southend Airport (SEN), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNE of RCS.
• Because of Rochester Airport's relatively low elevation of 426 feet, planes can take off or land at Rochester 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.
• Rochester City Council compulsory purchased the land at Rochester Airfield in September 1933 from the landowner as the site for a municipal airport.
• Rochester airport was bombed heavily during the war by a wing of Dornier Do 17s on 15 August 1940.
• Short Brothers continued to build seaplanes on the Esplanade at Rochester supplying the growing market for flying boats.

Facts about Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD):

• By the end of 1943, more than 65 women who served in the Women's Army Corps were also stationed at Ellington.
• In 1943 Ellington Field became the site for advanced navigator training.
• Also the possibility of a new municipal airfield endangered the existence of Ellington Field, rumors circulated throughout the Texas National Guard that the War Department wanted to transfer the aviation schools at Kelly and Brooks Fields to Houston.
• In addition to being known as "Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field", another name for EFD is "Ellington Field JRB".
• The closest airport to Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of EFD.
• The furthest airport from Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,008 miles (17,716 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• World War II, with its increasing need for trained pilots, helped to reestablish Ellington Field as an active facility.
• In 1925 General William Mitchell conducted a "flying tour" of all National Guard Observation Squadrons throughout the United States.
• Ellington now has the rare distinction of having all five military branches of the U.S.