Nonstop flight route between Temple, Texas, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport (TPL), Temple, Texas, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,855 miles (or 7,814 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 Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional 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 Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional 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 Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport (TPL):

• The closest airport to Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport (TPL) is Skylark Field (ILE), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) WSW of TPL.
• The furthest airport from Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport (TPL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,005 miles (17,712 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 682 feet, planes can take off or land at Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional 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 "Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport", another name for TPL is "(former Temple Army Airfield)".
• With the end of the war the airfield was determined to be excess by the military and turned over to the City of Temple, which closed "Temple Municipal Airport," and renamed Temple Army Airfield "Draughon-Miller" in honor of two Temple fliers who had died in World War II.
• Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport (TPL) has 2 runways.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• 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.
• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• 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 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.