Nonstop flight route between Arba Minch, Ethiopia and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Arba Minch Airport (AMH), Arba Minch, Ethiopia and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,566 miles (or 13,785 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 Arba Minch Airport and McChord Field/McChord AFB, 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 Arba Minch Airport and McChord Field/McChord AFB. 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 Arba Minch Airport (AMH):

• Arba Minch Airport (AMH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Arba Minch Airport (AMH) is Baco Airport (Jinka Airport) (BCO), which is located 73 miles (117 kilometers) WSW of AMH.
• The furthest airport from Arba Minch Airport (AMH) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Arba Minch Airport (meaning Arba Minch Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,090 miles (19,457 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Air Force notes in its 2012/13 annual survey of units that the 409th Air Expeditionary Group operates ISR aircraft from unspecified locations in the United States Air Forces Africa area of responsibility.

Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• In 1917, the citizens of Pierce County, Washington approved a bond measure for $2,000,000 to buy 70,000 acres of land to be donated to the Federal Government for use as a military reservation.
• The furthest airport from McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,803 miles (17,386 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• Because of McChord Field/McChord AFB's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at McChord Field/McChord AFB 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 base was the location of the first of twenty-eight stations built by ADC as part of the permanent air defense radar network, and was the top-priority site for ADC radars.
• Today, the successor organization to the 25th AD, the Western Air Defense Sector, is a major tenant organization at McChord, being one of two air defense sectors responsible for the security and integrity of continental United States air space.
• The closest airport to McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Gray Army Airfield (GRF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SW of TCM.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• McChord also had large maintenance facilities for Air Technical Service Command during the war, serving served as a P-39 Aircobra modification center April 1944 – May 1945 for lend-lease aircraft being sent to Russia via the Alaska Territory.