Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Teesside, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME), Teesside, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,625 miles (or 7,443 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 Durham Tees Valley 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 Durham Tees Valley 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 furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• It should not confused with Robert Gray Army Airfield at Fort Hood in Texas.
• The 9th Cavalry Brigade in the 1980s developed air-assault strategies with their AH-1 Cobra helicopters based upon experiences learned in Vietnam.
• After the Korean War, the 2d Aviation Company, of the 2d Infantry Division, which had been the first helicopter unit in Korea, returned to Fort Lewis with observation/spotter aircraft L-19 Bird Dogs, and L-20 Beavers, as well as H-23 Raven helicopters.
• 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 Washington National Guard 66th Aviation Brigade trains at Grey AAF and provides transportation support for fighting wildfires.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• The 91st Observation Squadron and aircraft of the 3rd Balloon Squadron operated out of the Fort Lewis airfield.
• 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.

Facts about Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME):

• Because of Durham Tees Valley Airport's relatively low elevation of 120 feet, planes can take off or land at Durham Tees Valley 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.
• The furthest airport from Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,741 miles (18,895 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Cobham Flight Inspection is a Durham Tees Valley based Cobham subsidiary who own a single Beech B200 Super King Air, two Beech B350 Super King Air & a single Diamond DA42 Twin Star.
• The majority shareholder in the airport is Peel Investments Ltd which owns 89%, while the remaining 11% is owned by a consortium of local authorities, consisting of County Durham, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Councils.
• Arriva North East presently operates services 12 and 20.
• The closest airport to Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME) is Newcastle Airport (NCL), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) NNW of MME.
• Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airfield began its life in 1941 as Royal Air Force Station RAF Middleton St.
• Durham Tees Valley Airport handled 161,092 passengers last year.
• Shortly afterwards, a new access road, terminal front and terminal interior were completed, but the remainder of a planned £56 million expansion and development programme which would have enabled the airport to handle up to 3 million passengers annually never materialised due to the above mentioned decrease in passenger numbers.