Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from TCM to TWU:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- TCM Airport Information
- TWU Airport Information
- Facts about TCM
- Facts about TWU
- 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 TWU
- List of Nearest Airports to TWU
- Map of Furthest Airports from TWU
- List of Furthest Airports from TWU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,333 miles (or 11,801 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 Tawau 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 Tawau 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: | TWU / WBKW |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia |
GPS Coordinates: | 4°18'47"N by 118°7'18"E |
Area Served: | Tawau Division, Sabah, East Malaysia |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Malaysia |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 57 feet (17 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from TWU |
More Information: | TWU Maps & Info |
Facts about McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "McChord Field/McChord AFB", another name for TCM is "Part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)".
- On 28 February 1938 the airfield was officially transferred to the United States Government.
- The 325th Fighter Group operated two squadrons of F-82F Twin Mustangs from McChord between 1948 and 1950, the first postwar fighter optimized for the air defense interceptor mission.
- 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.
- The 62nd Troop Carrier Wing was reassigned to the Military Air Transport Service Continental Division on 1 July 1957 as TAC realigned its transport units.
- McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM) has 2 runways.
Facts about Tawau Airport (TWU):
- Because of Tawau Airport's relatively low elevation of 57 feet, planes can take off or land at Tawau 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.
- However on 15 September 1995, a Malaysian Airlines Fokker 50 from Kota Kinabalu touched down 500 m before the end of the 2,200 m long runway.
- Tawau airport has a 2,685 m × 47 m long fully service runway, namely runway 06/24.
- The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
- An airport police station is located just at the opposite of the main terminal building.
- In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
- The furthest airport from Tawau Airport (TWU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Tawau Airport (meaning Tawau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,875 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
- Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.
- Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
- The terminal is a one and a half stories building, which consists of two aerobridges, and its large apron can accommodate eight aircraft at one time.