Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Valera, Venezuela:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño Airport (VLV), Valera, Venezuela would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,992 miles (or 6,425 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 Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño 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 Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño 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 6 October 1949, the 62nd received its first four-engine Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• SeADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and the SAGE headquarters combat center came under the 25th Air Division.
• McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
• The base was the location of the first of twenty-eight stations built by ADC as part of the permanent air defense radar network, and was the top-priority site for ADC radars.
• In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
• The 62d Operations Group flies the C-17 Globemaster III transport from McChord Field.

Facts about Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño Airport (VLV):

• The furthest airport from Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño Airport (VLV) is Tunggul Wulung Airport (CXP), which is nearly antipodal to Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño Airport (meaning Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tunggul Wulung Airport), and is located 12,316 miles (19,821 kilometers) away in Cilacap, Java Island, Indonesia.
• On December 29, 2012, during a press conference, executives of Avior Airlines, announced it will reopen flights to this destination, being operated by the subsidiary Avior Regional with two daily flights from Caracas from 1 April 2013.
• Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño Airport (VLV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Dr. Antonio Nicolás Briceño Airport (VLV) is Barinas Airport (BNS), which is located 56 miles (90 kilometers) SSE of VLV.