Nonstop flight route between Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SPS to BEX:
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- About this route
- SPS Airport Information
- BEX Airport Information
- Facts about SPS
- Facts about BEX
- Map of Nearest Airports to SPS
- List of Nearest Airports to SPS
- Map of Furthest Airports from SPS
- List of Furthest Airports from SPS
- Map of Nearest Airports to BEX
- List of Nearest Airports to BEX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BEX
- List of Furthest Airports from BEX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,710 miles (or 7,580 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 Sheppard Air Force Base 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 Sheppard Air Force Base and RAF Benson. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SPS / KSPS |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Wichita Falls, Texas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 33°59'20"N by 98°29'30"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from SPS |
| More Information: | SPS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BEX / EGUB |
| Airport Name: | RAF Benson |
| Location: | Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°36'59"N by 1°5'44"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from BEX |
| More Information: | BEX Maps & Info |
Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):
- The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
- During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and B-29 Superfortress flight engineers.
- The 3950th Technical Training Wing was designated the Sheppard Technical Training Center 1 January 1959.
- The host unit at Sheppard is the 82d Training Wing, which provides specialized technical training, medical, and field training for officers, Airmen, and civilians of all branches of the military, other DoD agencies, and foreign nationals.
- In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
- Additionally, officers from all 13 participating nations fill subordinate leadership positions throughout the wing.
- The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- The Air Force School of Health Care Sciences offered training in dentistry, medicine, nursing, and health-services administration.
- Over the next three decades three training schools were stationed at the base training students in aircraft maintenance, transportation, communication, civil engineering, Aircrew Life Support and field training.
Facts about RAF Benson (BEX):
- 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 King's Flight moved from RAF Hendon and would stay until after the war, moving to RAF Northolt in 1995.
- 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.
- Benson is currently home to 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron, 33 Squadron, 230 Squadron and also to Oxford University Air Squadron and No.
- The Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
