Nonstop flight route between West Palm Beach, Florida, United States and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida, United States and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,692 miles (or 4,332 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 Palm Beach International 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 Palm Beach International 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 Palm Beach International Airport (PBI):

• The closest airport to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) is Palm Beach County Park Airport (LNA), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) S of PBI.
• Palm Beach International Airport handled 5,609,168 passengers last year.
• Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) has 3 runways.
• After several years of Palm Beach County fighting the Air Force presence in West Palm Beach, the Air Force started to close down operations there.
• Delta Air Lines began scheduled flights in 1959 and Capital Airlines in 1960.
• Because of Palm Beach International Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Palm Beach International 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 Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,588 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• 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.
• Gray Army Airfield resides at elevation of 300 feet above mean sea level.
• In 1926, the War Department observing aviation expansion overseas requested additional aviation funding.
• 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.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• It should not confused with Robert Gray Army Airfield at Fort Hood in Texas.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".