Nonstop flight route between Goroka, Papua New Guinea and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Goroka Airport (GKA), Goroka, Papua New Guinea and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,621 miles (or 10,656 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 Goroka 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 Goroka 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 Goroka Airport (GKA):

• Goroka Airport (GKA) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Goroka Airport (GKA) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,734 miles (18,884 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• Because of Goroka Airport's high elevation of 5,282 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GKA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GKA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Goroka Airport (GKA) is Chimbu Airport (CMU), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) W of GKA.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• Since 2005 the field has been experiencing another major expansion.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• 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.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• 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.
• Company A, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, conducts high-altitude search-and-rescue operations.
• During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The 1938 construction included two paved runways, a boiler plant, headquarters building, metal balloon hangar, six-plane hangar, corrugated-iron hangar, storehouse, flight-surgeon office, and film-storage building.
• 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.