Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GRF to YLW:
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- About this route
- GRF Airport Information
- YLW Airport Information
- Facts about GRF
- Facts about YLW
- 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 YLW
- List of Nearest Airports to YLW
- Map of Furthest Airports from YLW
- List of Furthest Airports from YLW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Kelowna International Airport (YLW), Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 247 miles (or 398 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 Kelowna International 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: | YLW / CYLW |
| Airport Name: | Kelowna International Airport |
| Location: | Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada |
| GPS Coordinates: | 49°57'25"N by 119°22'40"W |
| Area Served: | Kelowna, British Columbia |
| Operator/Owner: | Transport Canada |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1421 feet (433 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from YLW |
| More Information: | YLW Maps & Info |
Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):
- With World War II, Gray Army Airfield received 1.7 million dollars for new hangars and improved facilities.
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Fort Lewis airfield housed observation planes.
- In 1926, the War Department observing aviation expansion overseas requested additional aviation funding.
- During the Korean War, GAAF continued in the role as a training and division support field.
- Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
- World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.
Facts about Kelowna International Airport (YLW):
- Today, the recently expanded main terminal building is a modern, full-service facility covering approximately 76,000 sq ft.
- Kelowna International Airport (YLW) currently has only 1 runway.
- The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to the major hub airports of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Los Angeles, and Seattle, as well as less frequent seasonal service to Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.
- The closest airport to Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is Vernon Regional Airport (YVE), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) N of YLW.
- Kelowna International Airport handled 1,440,952 passengers last year.
- The furthest airport from Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,566 miles (17,004 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
