Nonstop flight route between Marfa, Texas, United States and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF), Marfa, Texas, United States and McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,519 miles (or 2,444 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 Marfa Municipal 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 Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF):

• Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF) has 3 runways.
• For the 12-month period ending April 23, 2007, the airport had 15,000 aircraft operations, an average of 41 per day, all of which were general aviation.
• The closest airport to Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF) is Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport (ALE), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of MRF.
• The furthest airport from Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,361 miles (18,283 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Marfa Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,849 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MRF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MRF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

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.
• The 62d Operations Group flies the C-17 Globemaster III transport from McChord Field.
• 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.
• The 62d Airlift Wing is the host unit at McChord Field.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• In 1940 McChord Field became the headquarters of the GHQ Air Force Northwest Air District, with a mission for the defense of the Pacific Northwest and Upper Great Plains regions of the United States.
• In 1968, McChord AFB was relieved of its assignment to the subsequently renamed Aerospace Defense Command and was reassigned to Military Airlift Command as one of three MAC bases in the western United States operating the C-141 Starlifter.
• In 1945 McChord was designated as a permanent station by the Army Air Forces.
• In 1917, the citizens of Pierce County, Washington approved a bond measure for $2,000,000 to buy 70,000 acres of land to be donated to the Federal Government for use as a military reservation.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• In 1958, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center, and Combat Center was established at McChord.