Nonstop flight route between Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Broken Hill Airport (BHQ), Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,063 miles (or 12,976 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 Broken Hill 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 Broken Hill 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 Broken Hill Airport (BHQ):

• The airport currently is used as a base of operations for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia South-Eastern section thus making it a very important hub for this service.
• The furthest airport from Broken Hill Airport (BHQ) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is located 11,776 miles (18,951 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Broken Hill Airport (BHQ) has 2 runways.
• Broken Hill Airport handled 63,098 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Broken Hill Airport (BHQ) is Mildura Airport (MQL), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) SSE of BHQ.
• Because of Broken Hill Airport's relatively low elevation of 959 feet, planes can take off or land at Broken Hill 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 McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• 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.
• 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.
• Starting in mid-1943 the training of B-17 and B-24 replacement crews began to be phased out, as the Second Air Force began ramping up training of B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bomb groups, destined for Twentieth Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.
• 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.
• 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.
• The 325th Fighter Group operated two squadrons of F-82F Twin Mustangs from McChord between 1948 and 1950, the first postwar fighter optimized for the air defense interceptor mission.
• In 1968, McChord AFB was relieved of its assignment to the subsequently renamed Aerospace Defense Command and was reassigned to Military Airlift Command as one of three MAC bases in the western United States operating the C-141 Starlifter.
• Nearly all new heavy bomb groups organized after Pearl Harbor were organized and trained at Second Air Force Bases, by II Bomber Command operational training units then were deployed to combat commands around the world.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• With the departure of the 17th Bomb Group, the mission of McChord Field became supporting the Army Air Forces Training Command's mission of training of units, crews, and individuals for bombardment, fighter, and reconnaissance operations.
• 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.