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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Finschhafen Airport (FIN), Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,533 miles (or 10,513 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 Finschhafen 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 Finschhafen 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):

• Since 2005 the field has been experiencing another major expansion.
• The field is named in honor of Captain Lawrence C.
• 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.
• With World War II, Gray Army Airfield received 1.7 million dollars for new hangars and improved facilities.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• 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.
• The Air Transport Command.
• 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 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.
• Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.

Facts about Finschhafen Airport (FIN):

• The airport was built during World War II in late 1943 by the United States Army 807th and 808th Aviation Engineer Battalions which constructed a 6,000' x 100' coral and steel matting single runway running NNW to SSE.
• Finschhafen Airport (FIN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Finschhafen Airport (FIN) is Lae Nadzab Airport (LAE), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) W of FIN.
• In addition to being known as "Finschhafen Airport", another name for FIN is "Finschhafen Airport".
• The furthest airport from Finschhafen Airport (FIN) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,713 miles (18,850 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• Because of Finschhafen Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Finschhafen 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.