Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Mekane Selam, Ethiopia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Mekane Selam Airport (MKS), Mekane Selam, Ethiopia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,280 miles (or 13,326 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 Mekane Selam 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 Mekane Selam 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):

• Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
• 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.
• Gray Army Airfield resides at elevation of 300 feet above mean sea level.
• 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.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• It should not confused with Robert Gray Army Airfield at Fort Hood in Texas.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• The Air Transport Command.
• 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.
• The Fort Lewis airfield housed observation planes.
• 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.
• Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.

Facts about Mekane Selam Airport (MKS):

• The furthest airport from Mekane Selam Airport (MKS) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Mekane Selam Airport (meaning Mekane Selam Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,270 miles (19,747 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "Mekane Selam Airport", another name for MKS is "Mekane Selam".
• The closest airport to Mekane Selam Airport (MKS) is Combolcha Airport (DSE), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) ENE of MKS.