Nonstop flight route between State College, Pennsylvania, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between University Park Airport (SCE), State College, Pennsylvania, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,616 miles (or 5,820 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 University Park 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 University Park 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 University Park Airport (SCE):

• The furthest airport from University Park Airport (SCE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,582 miles (18,639 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Construction on the airport's new control tower began on January 8, 2010 and was completed in early August 2011.
• In addition to being known as "University Park Airport", another name for SCE is "UNV".
• The closest airport to University Park Airport (SCE) is Mid-State Regional Airport (PSB), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) W of SCE.
• University Park Airport (SCE) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.
• 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.
• The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.