Nonstop flight route between Mason City, Iowa, United States and Tacoma, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MCW to GRF:
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- About this route
- MCW Airport Information
- GRF Airport Information
- Facts about MCW
- Facts about GRF
- Map of Nearest Airports to MCW
- List of Nearest Airports to MCW
- Map of Furthest Airports from MCW
- List of Furthest Airports from MCW
- 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 Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW), Mason City, Iowa, United States and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,443 miles (or 2,322 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 Mason City Municipal 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: | MCW / KMCW |
| Airport Name: | Mason City Municipal Airport |
| Location: | Mason City, Iowa, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 43°9'28"N by 93°19'51"W |
| Area Served: | Mason City, Iowa |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Mason City |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1214 feet (370 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from MCW |
| More Information: | MCW 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 Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW):
- The closest airport to Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Forest City Municipal Airport (FXY), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) WNW of MCW.
- Great Lakes Airlines previously served the airport without funding from the EAS program and the airline flew direct to Chicago O'Hare up until October 28, 1998.
- Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,784 miles (17,354 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):
- Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
- It should not confused with Robert Gray Army Airfield at Fort Hood in Texas.
- 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.
- Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- Used to support Fort Lewis, Army helicopters assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s.
- The 91st Observation Squadron and aircraft of the 3rd Balloon Squadron operated out of the Fort Lewis airfield.
- In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
- 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.
