Nonstop flight route between Abau, Papua New Guinea and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Abau Airport (ABW), Abau, Papua New Guinea and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,672 miles (or 10,737 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 Abau Airport and Gray Army Airfield, 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 Abau Airport and Gray Army Airfield. 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 Abau Airport (ABW):

• The closest airport to Abau Airport (ABW) is Agaun Airport (AUP), which is located 49 miles (80 kilometers) ENE of ABW.
• The furthest airport from Abau Airport (ABW) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,873 miles (19,108 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• Because of Abau Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Abau 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 Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• The furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
• Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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.
• The field is named in honor of Captain Lawrence C.
• The Air Transport Command.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• August 1984 saw GAAF become one of few test centers for the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
• Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
• The closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.