Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and RAF Benson (BEX), Benson, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,439 miles (or 8,754 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 Vandenberg 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 Vandenberg 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):

• From August 1950 to February 1953, Camp Cooke served as a training installation for units slated for combat in Korea, and as a summer training base for many other reserve units.
• Vandenberg AFB is a Department of Defense space and missile testing base, with a mission of placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast, using expendable boosters.
• General Vandenberg retired from the Air Force in June 1953.
• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
• 21st Space Operations Squadron

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 Chiltern Air Support Unit helicopter and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter are also both located here as lodger units.
• The future of RAF Benson was in doubt for some time, while Project Belvedere was looking into closing at least one of Joint Helicopter Command's airfields.
• Benson is currently home to 28 Squadron, 78 Squadron, 33 Squadron, 230 Squadron and also to Oxford University Air Squadron and No.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Benson (BEX) is RAF High Wycombe (HYC), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) ENE of BEX.