Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Balkhash, Kazakhstan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Balqash Airport (BXH), Balkhash, Kazakhstan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,858 miles (or 9,427 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 Gray Army Airfield and Balqash Airport, 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 Gray Army Airfield and Balqash Airport. 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 Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• 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 furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
• 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.
• 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.
• Another innovative aircraft came to GAAF in the fall of 2000.
• During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
• During the Korean War, GAAF continued in the role as a training and division support field.

Facts about Balqash Airport (BXH):

• In addition to being known as "Balqash Airport", another name for BXH is "Аэропорт Балхаш".
• Military aircraft are also based there.
• Balqash Airport (BXH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Balqash Airport (BXH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,053 miles (17,787 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Balqash Airport (BXH) is Sary-Arka Airport (KGF), which is located 207 miles (333 kilometers) NNW of BXH.