Nonstop flight route between Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand and Tacoma, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from PPQ to GRF:
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- About this route
- PPQ Airport Information
- GRF Airport Information
- Facts about PPQ
- Facts about GRF
- Map of Nearest Airports to PPQ
- List of Nearest Airports to PPQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from PPQ
- List of Furthest Airports from PPQ
- 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 Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,183 miles (or 11,560 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 Kapiti Coast 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 Kapiti Coast 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: | PPQ / NZPP |
Airport Name: | Kapiti Coast Airport |
Location: | Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 40°54'16"S by 174°59'21"E |
Airport Type: | Attended, Uncontrolled, Certificated Aerodrome |
Elevation: | 22 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from PPQ |
More Information: | PPQ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GRF / KGRF |
Airport Names: |
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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 Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ):
- On 24 October 2011, Air Nelson, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, commenced flights between Auckland and Paraparaumu.
- Paraparaumu was judged unsuitable for international operations in the 1950s due to Kapiti Island to the near west and the Tararua Ranges barely a mile east infringing the take-off and landing flightpaths.
- Because of Kapiti Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kapiti Coast 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 closest airport to Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Wellington International Airport (WLG), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) SSW of PPQ.
- The furthest airport from Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Kapiti Coast Airport (meaning Kapiti Coast Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,411 miles (19,973 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.
- Re-development proposals involve closing 11/29, with a parallel grass runway as the only crosswind runway.
- Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) has 3 runways.
Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
- The Fort Lewis airfield housed observation planes.
- Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
- The Army Air Force closed its facilities in 1947.
- The 9th Cavalry Brigade in the 1980s developed air-assault strategies with their AH-1 Cobra helicopters based upon experiences learned in Vietnam.
- Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
- 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 furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.