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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Edinburgh Airport (EDI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,493 miles (or 7,232 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 Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• Other wing components are the 62d Maintenance Group, 62d Mission Support Group and 62d Medical Squadron.
• 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.
• Today, the successor organization to the 25th AD, the Western Air Defense Sector, is a major tenant organization at McChord, being one of two air defense sectors responsible for the security and integrity of continental United States air space.

Facts about Edinburgh Airport (EDI):

• Edinburgh Airport (EDI) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,713 miles (18,850 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Although the original main runway 13/31 served the airport well, its alignment had the disadvantage of suffering from severe crosswinds and the other two minor runways were very short and could not be readily extended, so movements were transferred to a new runway in an addition completely outside the original airfield boundary.
• When the Second World War broke out, RAF Fighter Command took control over the airfield and a runway of 3,900 ft was paved to handle the Supermarine Spitfire.
• In 1918 the Royal Air Force was formed and the airfield was named RAF Turnhouse and ownership transferred to the Ministry of Defence.
• The closest airport to Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Perth Airport (PSL), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) N of EDI.
• Lothian Buses provide public transportation to the airport with the Airlink 100 express bus from Edinburgh city centre, as well as the number 35 direct to Ocean Terminal and N22 with the same destination but alternative route.
• Edinburgh Airport handled 9,775,443 passengers last year.
• Edinburgh Airport is located at Ingliston in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2013, handling just under 9.8 million passengers in that year.
• A £40m extension to the departure lounge has been built, work commenced in December, 2008.
• Because of Edinburgh Airport's relatively low elevation of 136 feet, planes can take off or land at Edinburgh 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.