Nonstop flight route between General Santos City, Philippines and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between General Santos International Airport (GES), General Santos City, Philippines and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,938 miles (or 11,165 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 General Santos International 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 General Santos International 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 General Santos International Airport (GES):

• Because of General Santos International Airport's relatively low elevation of 505 feet, planes can take off or land at General Santos International 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.
• Having a runway length of 3,227 meters and a runway width of 45 meters, General Santos International Airport has the country's third longest runway—to date—after Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu.
• In addition to being known as "General Santos International Airport", another name for GES is "Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Heneral SantosTugpahanang Pangkalibutanon sa Heneral SantosPangkalibutan nga Hulugpaan sang Heneral Santos".
• Philippine Airlines Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet
• In a few months time PAL commenced regular thrice weekly direct flights to and from Manila using a bigger and wider Airbus A300-B4 aircraft.
• General Santos International Airport handled 611,274 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to General Santos International Airport (GES) is Allah Valley Airport (AAV), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) NW of GES.
• General Santos International Airport (GES) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from General Santos International Airport (GES) is Itaituba Airport (ITB), which is nearly antipodal to General Santos International Airport (meaning General Santos International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Itaituba Airport), and is located 12,290 miles (19,779 kilometers) away in Itaituba, Pará, Brazil.

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.
• 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.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the 17th Bombardment Group flew anti-submarine patrols off the west coast of the United States with the new North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber.
• 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.
• 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 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 1958, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center, and Combat Center was established at McChord.
• In 1947 Tactical Air Command moved the 62d Troop Carrier Group to McChord Field from Bergstrom Field, Texas.
• 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.