Nonstop flight route between Salmon, Idaho, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lemhi County Airport (SMN), Salmon, Idaho, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,661 miles (or 7,500 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 Lemhi County 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 Lemhi County 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 Lemhi County Airport (SMN):

• The closest airport to Lemhi County Airport (SMN) is Challis Airport (CHL), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) SSW of SMN.
• The furthest airport from Lemhi County Airport (SMN) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,686 miles (17,197 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Lemhi County Airport (SMN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Lemhi County Airport's high elevation of 4,043 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SMN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SMN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• 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.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.
• A near nuclear accident occurred on 27 July 1956 – when a B-47 bomber crashed into a storage igloo at Lakenheath containing three MK-6 nuclear weapons while on a routine training mission.