Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Salgado Filho International Airport (POA), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,927 miles (or 11,148 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 Salgado Filho International 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 Salgado Filho International 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):

• August 1984 saw GAAF become one of few test centers for the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
• 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.
• The Washington National Guard 66th Aviation Brigade trains at Grey AAF and provides transportation support for fighting wildfires.
• World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
• Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
• 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 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)".
• The Army Air Force closed its facilities in 1947.
• The 91st Observation Squadron and aircraft of the 3rd Balloon Squadron operated out of the Fort Lewis airfield.

Facts about Salgado Filho International Airport (POA):

• Because of Salgado Filho International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Salgado Filho International 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.
• However, in order to cope with the increasing passenger traffic at the airport, on September 8, 2010 a decision was made to renovate Terminal 2 and bring it back into passenger use.
• Salgado Filho was originally called São João Federal Airport, after the neighborhood where it is located.
• The furthest airport from Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) is Yakushima Airport (KUM), which is nearly antipodal to Salgado Filho International Airport (meaning Salgado Filho International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Yakushima Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
• The closest airport to Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) is Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport (CCM), which is located 137 miles (221 kilometers) NE of POA.
• Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) currently has only 1 runway.
• On October 12, 1951, São João Federal Airport was renamed Salgado Filho Airport, after the Senator and Minister who died the year before on a crash involving a SAVAG aircraft that departed from Porto Alegre.
• In addition to being known as "Salgado Filho International Airport", another name for POA is "Aeroporto Internacional Salgado Filho".
• Terminals 1 and 2 have taxi services.