Nonstop flight route between Sheldon Point, Alaska, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sheldon Point Airport (SXP), Sheldon Point, Alaska, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,456 miles (or 7,172 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 Sheldon Point 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 Sheldon Point 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 Sheldon Point Airport (SXP):

• In addition to being known as "Sheldon Point Airport", another name for SXP is "none".
• The closest airport to Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) is Alakanuk Airport (AUK), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) NNE of SXP.
• Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,458 miles (16,831 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Because of Sheldon Point Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Sheldon Point 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.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
• In early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of 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.
• 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.