Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Birmingham, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Birmingham Airport (BHX), Birmingham, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,721 miles (or 7,597 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 McChord Field/McChord AFB and Birmingham Airport, 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 McChord Field/McChord AFB and Birmingham Airport. 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 McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):

• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• Other wing components are the 62d Maintenance Group, 62d Mission Support Group and 62d Medical Squadron.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the 17th Bombardment Group flew anti-submarine patrols off the west coast of the United States with the new North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber.
• On 6 October 1949, the 62nd received its first four-engine Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport.
• On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Birmingham Airport (BHX):

• Plans for the extension of the airport runway and the construction of the new air traffic control tower were submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in January 2008 and approved in March 2009.
• The runway extension will be officially opened on 22 July 2014 and will be marked by a series of charter flights operated by China Southern Airlines to Beijing.
• Birmingham Airport handled 9,120,201 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Coventry Airport (CVT), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) ESE of BHX.
• Birmingham Airport is served by Birmingham International station.
• The airport's location south-east of the city, plus the only operational runway being north-west – south-east, means that depending on wind direction, aircraft land or take-off directly over Birmingham.
• Although initial plans for a second runway were scrapped, this is now firmly back on the airports agenda ahead of the report into Britains aviation strategy being published.
• Because of Birmingham Airport's relatively low elevation of 341 feet, planes can take off or land at Birmingham 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.
• Birmingham Airport (BHX) currently has only 1 runway.