Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Makurdi Airport (MDI), Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,618 miles (or 12,260 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 Makurdi 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 Makurdi 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):

• The Air Transport Command.
• 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.
• World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• The Army Air Force closed its facilities in 1947.
• The 9th Cavalry Brigade in the 1980s developed air-assault strategies with their AH-1 Cobra helicopters based upon experiences learned in Vietnam.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Makurdi Airport (MDI):

• Makurdi Airport (MDI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Makurdi Airport (MDI) is Akanu Ibiam International Airport ( AIIA ) (ENU), which is located 111 miles (179 kilometers) SW of MDI.
• The furthest airport from Makurdi Airport (MDI) is Canton Island Airport (CIS), which is nearly antipodal to Makurdi Airport (meaning Makurdi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Canton Island Airport), and is located 12,095 miles (19,465 kilometers) away in Canton Island, Kiribati.
• Because of Makurdi Airport's relatively low elevation of 371 feet, planes can take off or land at Makurdi 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.