Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Gweru, Zimbabwe:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from LKZ to GWE:
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- About this route
- LKZ Airport Information
- GWE Airport Information
- Facts about LKZ
- Facts about GWE
- Map of Nearest Airports to LKZ
- List of Nearest Airports to LKZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from LKZ
- List of Furthest Airports from LKZ
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWE
- List of Nearest Airports to GWE
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWE
- List of Furthest Airports from GWE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), Gweru, Zimbabwe would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,267 miles (or 8,477 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 RAF Lakenheath and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base, 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 RAF Lakenheath and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | LKZ / EGUL |
Airport Name: | RAF Lakenheath |
Location: | Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°24'29"N by 0°33'24"E |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from LKZ |
More Information: | LKZ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GWE / FVTL |
Airport Name: | Gweru-Thornhill Air Base |
Location: | Gweru, Zimbabwe |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°26'11"S by 29°51'42"E |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 4680 feet (1,426 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GWE |
More Information: | GWE Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):
- By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S.
- By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.
- 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.
- Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons.
- 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.
- In conjunction with this transfer, control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from Strategic Air Command back to USAFE.
- In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
Facts about Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE):
- Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (meaning Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- Because of Gweru-Thornhill Air Base's high elevation of 4,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GWE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GWE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Masvingo Airport (MVZ), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) ESE of GWE.