Nonstop flight route between McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia and Tacoma, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MCV to GRF:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- MCV Airport Information
- GRF Airport Information
- Facts about MCV
- Facts about GRF
- Map of Nearest Airports to MCV
- List of Nearest Airports to MCV
- Map of Furthest Airports from MCV
- List of Furthest Airports from MCV
- Map of Nearest Airports to GRF
- List of Nearest Airports to GRF
- Map of Furthest Airports from GRF
- List of Furthest Airports from GRF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between McArthur River Mine Airport (MCV), McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,574 miles (or 12,189 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 McArthur River Mine 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 McArthur River Mine 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MCV / YMHU |
Airport Name: | McArthur River Mine Airport |
Location: | McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 16°26'42"S by 136°4'29"E |
Operator/Owner: | McArthur River Mining Pty Ltd |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 136 feet (41 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MCV |
More Information: | MCV Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GRF / KGRF |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Tacoma, Washington, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°4'45"N by 122°34'50"W |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Army ATCA-ASO |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 300 feet (91 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GRF |
More Information: | GRF Maps & Info |
Facts about McArthur River Mine Airport (MCV):
- Because of McArthur River Mine Airport's relatively low elevation of 136 feet, planes can take off or land at McArthur River Mine 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.
- The furthest airport from McArthur River Mine Airport (MCV) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,451 miles (18,428 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.
- McArthur River Mine Airport (MCV) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to McArthur River Mine Airport (MCV) is Borroloola Airport (BOX), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NNE of MCV.
Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):
- 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 Fort Lewis airfield housed observation planes.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
- Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
- 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.
- During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
- 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.
- During the Korean War, GAAF continued in the role as a training and division support field.