Nonstop flight route between Malakal, South Sudan and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malakal Airport (MAK), Malakal, South Sudan and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,215 miles (or 13,220 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 Malakal 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 Malakal 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 Malakal Airport (MAK):

• Malakal Airport is an airport serving Malakal, a city in Malakal County in the Upper Nile state in South Sudan.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 1,291 feet above mean sea level.
• Malakal Airport (MAK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Malakal Airport (MAK) is Ahe Airport (AHE), which is nearly antipodal to Malakal Airport (meaning Malakal Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ahe Airport), and is located 12,072 miles (19,428 kilometers) away in Ahe, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Malakal Airport (MAK) is Beica Airport (BEI), which is located 196 miles (315 kilometers) E of MAK.

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.
• 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.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• 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 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 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.
• August 1984 saw GAAF become one of few test centers for the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.