Nonstop flight route between Abau, Papua New Guinea and Tacoma, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from ABW to GRF:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- ABW Airport Information
- GRF Airport Information
- Facts about ABW
- Facts about GRF
- Map of Nearest Airports to ABW
- List of Nearest Airports to ABW
- Map of Furthest Airports from ABW
- List of Furthest Airports from ABW
- Map of Nearest Airports to GRF
- List of Nearest Airports to GRF
- Map of Furthest Airports from GRF
- List of Furthest Airports from GRF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Abau Airport (ABW), Abau, Papua New Guinea and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,672 miles (or 10,737 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 Abau Airport and Gray Army Airfield, 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 Abau Airport and Gray Army Airfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | ABW / |
Airport Name: | Abau Airport |
Location: | Abau, Papua New Guinea |
GPS Coordinates: | 10°10'1"S by 148°41'59"E |
Elevation: | 10 feet (3 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from ABW |
More Information: | ABW Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GRF / KGRF |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Tacoma, Washington, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°4'45"N by 122°34'50"W |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Army ATCA-ASO |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 300 feet (91 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GRF |
More Information: | GRF Maps & Info |
Facts about Abau Airport (ABW):
- Because of Abau Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Abau 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.
- The closest airport to Abau Airport (ABW) is Agaun Airport (AUP), which is located 49 miles (80 kilometers) ENE of ABW.
- The furthest airport from Abau Airport (ABW) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,873 miles (19,108 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):
- The closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
- Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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.
- During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
- Gray Army Airfield, also known as Gray AAF, is a military airfield located within Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, in Pierce County, Washington, United States.
- In 1926, the War Department observing aviation expansion overseas requested additional aviation funding.
- Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
- The 1938 construction included two paved runways, a boiler plant, headquarters building, metal balloon hangar, six-plane hangar, corrugated-iron hangar, storehouse, flight-surgeon office, and film-storage building.
- The Washington National Guard 66th Aviation Brigade trains at Grey AAF and provides transportation support for fighting wildfires.
- Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
- The furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- The field is named in honor of Captain Lawrence C.
- Another innovative aircraft came to GAAF in the fall of 2000.
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".