Nonstop flight route between Blenheim, New Zealand and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Woodbourne Airport (BHE), Blenheim, New Zealand and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,259 miles (or 11,682 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 Woodbourne 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 Woodbourne 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 Woodbourne Airport (BHE):

• Woodbourne Airport (BHE) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Woodbourne Airport (BHE) is Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) WNW of BHE.
• The furthest airport from Woodbourne Airport (BHE) is Bragança Airport (BGC), which is nearly antipodal to Woodbourne Airport (meaning Woodbourne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bragança Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Bragança, Portugal.
• Because of Woodbourne Airport's relatively low elevation of 109 feet, planes can take off or land at Woodbourne 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.
• Today it has more frequent operations, with Air New Zealand's regional subsidiary Eagle Airways using Beechcraft 1900 and Air Nelson using Bombardier Q300 aircraft.

Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• On 28 February 1938 the airfield was officially transferred to the United States Government.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.
• The 62d Operations Group flies the C-17 Globemaster III transport from McChord Field.
• 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.
• On 6 October 1949, the 62nd received its first four-engine Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport.
• 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 McChord Air Force Base facility was consolidated with the United States Army Fort Lewis on 1 February 2010 to become part of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord complex.