Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ), Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,871 miles (or 11,058 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 Santa Cruz Air Force Base, 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 Santa Cruz Air Force Base. 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):

• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Another innovative aircraft came to GAAF in the fall of 2000.
• 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 91st Observation Squadron and aircraft of the 3rd Balloon Squadron operated out of the Fort Lewis airfield.
• 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 field is named in honor of Captain Lawrence C.
• 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 Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ):

• The closest airport to Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) ENE of SNZ.
• Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Santa Cruz Air Force Base's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Cruz Air Force Base 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 base was originally called Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport and it was constructed to handle the operations with the rigid airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Cruz Air Force Base", another name for SNZ is "Base Aérea de Santa Cruz".
• The furthest airport from Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Cruz Air Force Base (meaning Santa Cruz Air Force Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,093 miles (19,462 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.