Nonstop flight route between St. Mary's, Alaska, United States and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Mary's Airport (KSM), St. Mary's, Alaska, United States and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,885 miles (or 3,034 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 relatively short distance between St. Mary's Airport and McChord Field/McChord AFB, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about St. Mary's Airport (KSM):

• The closest airport to St. Mary's Airport (KSM) is Mountain Village Airport (MOU), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) W of KSM.
• The furthest airport from St. Mary's Airport (KSM) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,494 miles (16,889 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• St. Mary's Airport (KSM) has 2 runways.
• Because of St. Mary's Airport's relatively low elevation of 312 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Mary's 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.

Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• The furthest airport from McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,803 miles (17,386 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• Nearly all new heavy bomb groups organized after Pearl Harbor were organized and trained at Second Air Force Bases, by II Bomber Command operational training units then were deployed to combat commands around the world.
• The base was the location of the first of twenty-eight stations built by ADC as part of the permanent air defense radar network, and was the top-priority site for ADC radars.
• Starting in mid-1943 the training of B-17 and B-24 replacement crews began to be phased out, as the Second Air Force began ramping up training of B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bomb groups, destined for Twentieth Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• The closest airport to McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Gray Army Airfield (GRF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SW of TCM.
• Because of McChord Field/McChord AFB's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at McChord Field/McChord AFB 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 ADC radar site was deactivated 1 April 1960 and repositioned to Fort Lawton AFS where the Air Force consolidated its anti-aircraft radars with the United States Army Seattle Defense Area Army Air-Defense Command Post S-90DC for Nike missile operations.
• On 28 February 1938 the airfield was officially transferred to the United States Government.
• The 62nd Troop Carrier Wing was reassigned to the Military Air Transport Service Continental Division on 1 July 1957 as TAC realigned its transport units.