Nonstop flight route between Lesobeng, Lesotho and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lesobeng Airport (LES), Lesobeng, Lesotho and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,479 miles (or 16,865 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 Lesobeng Airport and Gray Army Airfield, 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 Lesobeng Airport and Gray Army Airfield. 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 Lesobeng Airport (LES):

• Lesobeng Airport (LES) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lesobeng Airport (LES) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,760 miles (18,926 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Lesobeng Airport (LES) is Semonkong Airport (SOK), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) WSW of LES.
• Because of Lesobeng Airport's high elevation of 7,130 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LES. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LES a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Army Air Force closed its facilities in 1947.
• The 1938 construction included two paved runways, a boiler plant, headquarters building, metal balloon hangar, six-plane hangar, corrugated-iron hangar, storehouse, flight-surgeon office, and film-storage building.
• 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.
• In October 1921 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes flew from the Naval Station at Sand Point to a grass airfield at what was then called "Camp Lewis", located at a site just west of today’s Gray AAF.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• 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.
• During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.