Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Heihe, Heilongjiang, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Heihe Airport (HEK), Heihe, Heilongjiang, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,536 miles (or 7,299 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 Heihe 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 Heihe 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):

• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Another innovative aircraft came to GAAF in the fall of 2000.
• 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.
• 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.
• World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.
• The Army Air Force closed its facilities in 1947.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".

Facts about Heihe Airport (HEK):

• The furthest airport from Heihe Airport (HEK) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is nearly antipodal to Heihe Airport (meaning Heihe Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Port Stanley Airport), and is located 12,192 miles (19,621 kilometers) away in Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom.
• Heihe Airport (HEK) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Heihe Airport", other names for HEK include "黑河机场" and "Hēihé Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Heihe Airport (HEK) is Ignatyevo Airport (BQS), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NNE of HEK.