Nonstop flight route between Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, United States and Tacoma, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from CMI to GRF:
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- About this route
- CMI Airport Information
- GRF Airport Information
- Facts about CMI
- Facts about GRF
- Map of Nearest Airports to CMI
- List of Nearest Airports to CMI
- Map of Furthest Airports from CMI
- List of Furthest Airports from CMI
- 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 University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI), Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, United States and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,769 miles (or 2,847 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 relatively short distance between University of Illinois Willard Airport and Gray Army Airfield, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CMI / KCMI |
Airport Name: | University of Illinois Willard Airport |
Location: | Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 40°2'21"N by 88°16'41"W |
Area Served: | Champaign-Urbana, Illinois |
Operator/Owner: | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 754 feet (230 meters) |
# of Runways: | 4 |
View all routes: | Routes from CMI |
More Information: | CMI Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GRF / KGRF |
Airport Names: |
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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 University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI):
- University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI) has 4 runways.
- On January 28, 1998 President Bill Clinton was in Champaign-Urbana for a speaking engagement at Assembly Hall and arrived at Willard Airport on Air Force One.
- The terminal has five gates.
- The furthest airport from University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,084 miles (17,838 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- The closest airport to University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI) is Decatur Airport (DEC), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) WSW of CMI.
- Because of University of Illinois Willard Airport's relatively low elevation of 754 feet, planes can take off or land at University of Illinois Willard 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.
Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):
- 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.
- In 1926, the War Department observing aviation expansion overseas requested additional aviation funding.
- In October 1921 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes flew from the Naval Station at Sand Point to a grass airfield at what was then called "Camp Lewis", located at a site just west of today’s Gray AAF.
- 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.
- World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
- 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.
- 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.
- Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
- Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
- August 1984 saw GAAF become one of few test centers for the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.