Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Benton Harbor, Michigan, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GRF to BEH:
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- About this route
- GRF Airport Information
- BEH Airport Information
- Facts about GRF
- Facts about BEH
- Map of Nearest Airports to GRF
- List of Nearest Airports to GRF
- Map of Furthest Airports from GRF
- List of Furthest Airports from GRF
- Map of Nearest Airports to BEH
- List of Nearest Airports to BEH
- Map of Furthest Airports from BEH
- List of Furthest Airports from BEH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Southwest Michigan Regional Airport (BEH), Benton Harbor, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,794 miles (or 2,888 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 Gray Army Airfield and Southwest Michigan Regional Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BEH / KBEH |
| Airport Name: | Southwest Michigan Regional Airport |
| Location: | Benton Harbor, Michigan, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 42°7'42"N by 86°25'33"W |
| Area Served: | Benton Harbor, Michigan / St. Joseph, Michigan |
| Operator/Owner: | Benton Harbor / St. Joseph |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 649 feet (198 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 3 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BEH |
| More Information: | BEH Maps & Info |
Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):
- The Army Air Force closed its facilities in 1947.
- In 1926, the War Department observing aviation expansion overseas requested additional aviation funding.
- 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.
- It should not confused with Robert Gray Army Airfield at Fort Hood in Texas.
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
- Company A, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, conducts high-altitude search-and-rescue operations.
- 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 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 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.
- Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
- Since 2005 the field has been experiencing another major expansion.
- 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 closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
Facts about Southwest Michigan Regional Airport (BEH):
- It was previously served from 1995 to 2000 by Mesaba Airlines, offering five daily flights to the Northwest Airlines hub at Detroit.
- The closest airport to Southwest Michigan Regional Airport (BEH) is Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (NLE), which is located 22 miles (36 kilometers) SSE of BEH.
- Because of Southwest Michigan Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 649 feet, planes can take off or land at Southwest Michigan Regional 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 airport is accessible by road from Territorial Road, and is close to Interstate 94 and I-94 Business Loop.
- There is no commercial airline with scheduled passenger service at the airport.
- Southwest Michigan Regional Airport (BEH) has 3 runways.
- The furthest airport from Southwest Michigan Regional Airport (BEH) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,140 miles (17,929 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
