Nonstop flight route between Kekaha, Hawaii, United States and Tacoma, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BKH to TCM:
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- About this route
- BKH Airport Information
- TCM Airport Information
- Facts about BKH
- Facts about TCM
- Map of Nearest Airports to BKH
- List of Nearest Airports to BKH
- Map of Furthest Airports from BKH
- List of Furthest Airports from BKH
- Map of Nearest Airports to TCM
- List of Nearest Airports to TCM
- Map of Furthest Airports from TCM
- List of Furthest Airports from TCM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), Kekaha, Hawaii, United States and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,699 miles (or 4,344 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 PMRF Barking Sands 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 PMRF Barking Sands 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:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BKH / PHBK |
| Airport Name: | PMRF Barking Sands |
| Location: | Kekaha, Hawaii, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 22°1'22"N by 159°47'5"W |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Navy |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BKH |
| More Information: | BKH Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | TCM / KTCM |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Tacoma, Washington, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 47°8'16"N by 122°28'35"W |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
| Airport Type: | Military: Air Force Base |
| Elevation: | 322 feet (98 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from TCM |
| More Information: | TCM Maps & Info |
Facts about PMRF Barking Sands (BKH):
- Because of PMRF Barking Sands's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at PMRF Barking Sands 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.
- PMRF is the world's largest instrumented, multi-dimensional testing and training missile range.
- The furthest airport from PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) is Gobabis Airport (GOG), which is nearly antipodal to PMRF Barking Sands (meaning PMRF Barking Sands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobabis Airport), and is located 12,351 miles (19,877 kilometers) away in Gobabis, Namibia.
- The closest airport to PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) is Port Allen Airport (PAK), which is located only 15 miles (23 kilometers) SE of BKH.
- PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):
- McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
- Other wing components are the 62d Maintenance Group, 62d Mission Support Group and 62d Medical Squadron.
- In 1940 McChord Field became the headquarters of the GHQ Air Force Northwest Air District, with a mission for the defense of the Pacific Northwest and Upper Great Plains regions of the United States.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.
- 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 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.
