Nonstop flight route between Fangatau, French Polynesia and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fangatau Airport (FGU), Fangatau, French Polynesia and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,492 miles (or 7,229 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 Fangatau 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 Fangatau 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 Fangatau Airport (FGU):

• In addition to being known as "Fangatau Airport", another name for FGU is "Aérodrome de Fangatau".
• Because of Fangatau Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Fangatau 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.
• Fangatau Airport (FGU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Fangatau Airport (FGU) is Raroia Airport (RRR), which is located 107 miles (172 kilometers) W of FGU.
• The furthest airport from Fangatau Airport (FGU) is Massawa International Airport (MSW), which is nearly antipodal to Fangatau Airport (meaning Fangatau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Massawa International Airport), and is located 12,417 miles (19,984 kilometers) away in Massawa, Eritrea.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• Gray Army Airfield, also known as Gray AAF, is a military airfield located within Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, in Pierce County, Washington, United States.
• 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 Fort Lewis airfield housed observation planes.
• 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.
• The Air Transport Command.
• Gray Army Airfield resides at elevation of 300 feet above mean sea level.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
• In October 1921 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes flew from the Naval Station at Sand Point to a grass airfield at what was then called "Camp Lewis", located at a site just west of today’s Gray AAF.