Nonstop flight route between Saarbrücken, Germany and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), Saarbrücken, Germany and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,135 miles (or 8,263 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 Saarbrücken 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 Saarbrücken 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 Saarbrücken Airport (SCN):

• Saarbrücken Airport, or Flughafen Saarbrücken or Ensheim Airport in German, is a minor international airport in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland.
• The furthest airport from Saarbrücken Airport (SCN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Saarbrücken Airport (meaning Saarbrücken Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,027 miles (19,355 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Saarbrücken Airport", another name for SCN is "Flughafen Saarbrücken".
• The closest airport to Saarbrücken Airport (SCN) is Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) E of SCN.
• The airport is linked to motorways A1/A6 which connect to Saarbrücken itself, to the cities of Trier and Mannheim and to Luxembourg.
• In June 2011, 46,189 passengers used Saarbrücken Airport and it handled 452,314 passengers in the same entire year.
• Saarbrücken Airport (SCN) has 2 runways.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
• In October 1921 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes flew from the Naval Station at Sand Point to a grass airfield at what was then called "Camp Lewis", located at a site just west of today’s Gray AAF.
• With World War II, Gray Army Airfield received 1.7 million dollars for new hangars and improved facilities.
• 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.
• 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.
• Since 2005 the field has been experiencing another major expansion.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.