Nonstop flight route between Thief River Falls, Minnesota, United States and Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thief River Falls Regional Airport (TVF), Thief River Falls, Minnesota, United States and RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,953 miles (or 6,361 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 Thief River Falls 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 Thief River Falls 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 Thief River Falls Regional Airport (TVF):

• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 3,092 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 2,721 in 2009, and 2,479 in 2010.
• The closest airport to Thief River Falls Regional Airport (TVF) is Crookston Municipal Airport (CKN), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) SW of TVF.
• The furthest airport from Thief River Falls Regional Airport (TVF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,555 miles (16,986 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Thief River Falls Regional Airport (TVF) has 2 runways.
• Thief River Falls Regional Airport covers an area of 916 acres at an elevation of 1,119 feet above mean sea level.

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (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.
• 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.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete.
• The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield.