Nonstop flight route between Tusayan, Arizona, United States and Tacoma, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GCN to GRF:
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- About this route
- GCN Airport Information
- GRF Airport Information
- Facts about GCN
- Facts about GRF
- Map of Nearest Airports to GCN
- List of Nearest Airports to GCN
- Map of Furthest Airports from GCN
- List of Furthest Airports from GCN
- 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 Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), Tusayan, Arizona, United States and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 938 miles (or 1,509 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 Grand Canyon National Park 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: | GCN / KGCN |
| Airport Name: | Grand Canyon National Park Airport |
| Location: | Tusayan, Arizona, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 35°57'7"N by 112°8'48"W |
| Area Served: | Grand Canyon |
| Operator/Owner: | State of Arizona |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 6609 feet (2,014 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GCN |
| More Information: | GCN 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 Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN):
- The closest airport to Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Valle Airport (VLE), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) S of GCN.
- The furthest airport from Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,285 miles (18,162 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Because of Grand Canyon National Park Airport's high elevation of 6,609 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- In addition, the airport was served in the past by America West Airlines operating de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
- Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) currently has only 1 runway.
- Historically, Grand Canyon National Park Airport had scheduled passenger jet service provided at different times in the past provided by several airlines which included Republic Airlines, Hughes Airwest, Air West and TriStar Airlines.
- Air West, the predecessor airline to Hughes Airwest, also operated Douglas DC-9 jets from the airport in addition to flying services with Fairchild F-27 turboprops.
- Today, the airport is the third most active air carrier airport in the Arizona, following Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Tucson International Airport.
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.
- 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.
- Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
- With World War II, Gray Army Airfield received 1.7 million dollars for new hangars and improved facilities.
- Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
- August 1984 saw GAAF become one of few test centers for the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
- 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.
- After the Korean War, the 2d Aviation Company, of the 2d Infantry Division, which had been the first helicopter unit in Korea, returned to Fort Lewis with observation/spotter aircraft L-19 Bird Dogs, and L-20 Beavers, as well as H-23 Raven helicopters.
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
