Nonstop flight route between San Tomé, Venezuela and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Tomé Airport (SOM), San Tomé, Venezuela and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,590 miles (or 7,387 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 San Tomé 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 San Tomé 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 San Tomé Airport (SOM):

• San Tomé Airport (SOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of San Tomé Airport's relatively low elevation of 837 feet, planes can take off or land at San Tomé 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.
• In addition to being known as "San Tomé Airport", another name for SOM is "Aeropuerto Don Edmundo Barrios".
• The closest airport to San Tomé Airport (SOM) is El Tigre Airport (ELX), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SSW of SOM.
• The furthest airport from San Tomé Airport (SOM) is Selaparang Airport (AMI), which is nearly antipodal to San Tomé Airport (meaning San Tomé Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Selaparang Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,964 kilometers) away in Mataram, Indonesia.

Facts about RAF Benson (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 future of RAF Benson was in doubt for some time, while Project Belvedere was looking into closing at least one of Joint Helicopter Command's airfields.
• The King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
• The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
• 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 Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.