Nonstop flight route between Rourkela, India and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rourkela Airport (RRK), Rourkela, India and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,854 miles (or 7,812 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 Rourkela 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 Rourkela 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 Rourkela Airport (RRK):

• Rourkela Airport (RRK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Rourkela Airport (RRK) is Birsa Munda Airport (IXR), which is located 80 miles (129 kilometers) NNE of RRK.
• The furthest airport from Rourkela Airport (RRK) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,482 miles (18,478 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Rourkela Airport", other names for RRK include "राउरकेला हवाई अड्डे" and "Rā'urakēlā havā'ī aḍḍē".
• The airstrip was constructed by the Tata Iron and Steel Company in 1950s for the purpose of carrying officials of the company, who regularly visited the area to survey and supervise the transportation of dolomite and other minerals from the district of Sundargarh for their industry.
• Because of Rourkela Airport's relatively low elevation of 656 feet, planes can take off or land at Rourkela 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.

Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):

• The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
• 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 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.