Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Elenak, Marshall Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Elenak Airport (EAL), Elenak, Marshall Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,842 miles (or 7,792 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 Elenak 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 Elenak 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):

• On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.
• 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.
• On 6 October 1949, the 62nd received its first four-engine Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport.
• In 1958, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center, and Combat Center was established at McChord.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• Other wing components are the 62d Maintenance Group, 62d Mission Support Group and 62d Medical Squadron.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• 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.
• McChord also had large maintenance facilities for Air Technical Service Command during the war, serving served as a P-39 Aircobra modification center April 1944 – May 1945 for lend-lease aircraft being sent to Russia via the Alaska Territory.
• 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 Elenak Airport (EAL):

• The furthest airport from Elenak Airport (EAL) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Elenak Airport (meaning Elenak Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,311 miles (19,812 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
• The closest airport to Elenak Airport (EAL) is Lae Airport (LML), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) SW of EAL.