Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Medan, Indonesia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from TCM to MES:
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- About this route
- TCM Airport Information
- MES Airport Information
- Facts about TCM
- Facts about MES
- 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 MES
- List of Nearest Airports to MES
- Map of Furthest Airports from MES
- List of Furthest Airports from MES
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Polonia International Airport (MES), Medan, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,136 miles (or 13,094 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 Polonia International 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 Polonia International 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: |
|
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: | MES / WIMM |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Medan, Indonesia |
GPS Coordinates: | 3°33'29"N by 98°40'18"E |
Area Served: | Medan |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Indonesia |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 114 feet (35 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from MES |
More Information: | MES Maps & Info |
Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):
- 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.
- SeADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and the SAGE headquarters combat center came under the 25th Air Division.
- 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.
- Part of Air Mobility Command
- In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
- On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.
- 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.
- 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.
- In 1991, Clark Air Base in the Philippines was evacuated due to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.
- In 1958, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center, and Combat Center was established at McChord.
- McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
Facts about Polonia International Airport (MES):
- By the time the news had arrived, it was too late to prepare a proper landing strip at Polonia.
- The airport located on 144 hectares land area.
- The furthest airport from Polonia International Airport (MES) is Cap. FAP Pedro Canga Rodríguez Airport (TBP), which is nearly antipodal to Polonia International Airport (meaning Polonia International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Pedro Canga Rodríguez Airport), and is located 12,371 miles (19,910 kilometers) away in Tumbes, Peru.
- Because of Polonia International Airport's relatively low elevation of 114 feet, planes can take off or land at Polonia International 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.
- In addition to being known as "Polonia International Airport", other names for MES include "Bandar Udara Internasional Polonia" and "WIMK".
- The closest airport to Polonia International Airport (MES) is Kualanamu International Airport (KNO), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ENE of MES.
- The airport is now closed to commercial aviation and replaced by Kuala Namu International Airport.