Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Bangkok, Thailand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from TCM to BKK:
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- About this route
- TCM Airport Information
- BKK Airport Information
- Facts about TCM
- Facts about BKK
- Map of Nearest Airports to TCM
- List of Nearest Airports to TCM
- Map of Furthest Airports from TCM
- List of Furthest Airports from TCM
- Map of Nearest Airports to BKK
- List of Nearest Airports to BKK
- Map of Furthest Airports from BKK
- List of Furthest Airports from BKK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,458 miles (or 12,003 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 Suvarnabhumi 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 Suvarnabhumi Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | TCM / KTCM |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Tacoma, Washington, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 47°8'16"N by 122°28'35"W |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
| Airport Type: | Military: Air Force Base |
| Elevation: | 322 feet (98 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from TCM |
| More Information: | TCM Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BKK / VTBS (VTBD |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Bangkok, Thailand |
| GPS Coordinates: | 13°41'33"N by 100°45'0"E |
| Area Served: | Bangkok |
| Operator/Owner: | Airports of Thailand |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 5 feet (2 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BKK |
| More Information: | BKK Maps & Info |
Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):
- On 28 February 1938 the airfield was officially transferred to the United States Government.
- In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
- During 1952 and 1953, the 62nd airlifted troops, blood plasma, aircraft parts, ammunition, medical supplies, and much more, to the Far East, in support of the war in Korea.
- McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
- Following the end of the war in Europe, McChord redeployed thousands of troops arriving from the European theater to the Pacific as part of Air Transport Command.
- Starting in mid-1943 the training of B-17 and B-24 replacement crews began to be phased out, as the Second Air Force began ramping up training of B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bomb groups, destined for Twentieth Air Force.
- 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 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.
- 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 closest airport to McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) is Gray Army Airfield (GRF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) SW of TCM.
- 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.
Facts about Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK):
- The furthest airport from Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM), which is nearly antipodal to Suvarnabhumi Airport (meaning Suvarnabhumi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Jorge Chávez International Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Callao (near Lima), Peru.
- The closest airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is Suvarnabhumi Airport (NBK), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of BKK.
- Suvarnabhumi officially opened at 03:00 on 28 September 2006, taking over all flights from Don Mueang.
- Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) has 2 runways.
- The 8,400 acres plot of land occupied by the airport was purchased in 1973, but the student-led protests on 14 October that year led the overthrow of the military government of Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn and the project was shelved.
- The airport has two parallel runways and two parallel taxiways to accommodate simultaneous departures and arrivals.
- In addition to being known as "Suvarnabhumi Airport", other names for BKK include "ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ" and "VTBS".
- The integration of structural form into overall aesthetics is a phenomenon personally described by Helmut Jahn as "archi-neering".
- Because of Suvarnabhumi Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Suvarnabhumi 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.
- Further investigations found that taxilane and taxiway rutting was caused by separation of the asphalt binder from the aggregate surface due to prolonged water infiltration into the asphalt concrete base course, a phenomenon known as "stripping." The 23-centimetre thick base course is the top-most layer of the tarmac.
