Nonstop flight route between Spencer, Iowa, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Spencer Municipal Airport (SPW), Spencer, Iowa, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,157 miles (or 6,691 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 Spencer Municipal 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 Spencer Municipal 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 Spencer Municipal Airport (SPW):

• In addition to being known as "Spencer Municipal Airport", another name for SPW is "Northwest Iowa Regional AirportSpencer Army Airfield".
• The furthest airport from Spencer Municipal Airport (SPW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,691 miles (17,206 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Spencer Municipal Airport (SPW) is Jackson Municipal Airport (MJQ), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SPW.
• Inactivated during 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.
• Spencer Municipal Airport (SPW) has 2 runways.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• 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.
• Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel.
• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
• 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 work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• 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.