Grimes Field

This article is about an airport in Ohio. For the airport in Pennsylvania, see Grimes Airport.

Grimes Field
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Urbana
ServesUrbana, Ohio
Built1933
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (-5)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (-4)
Elevation AMSL1,068 ft / 326 m
Coordinates40°07′57″N 083°45′13″W / 40.13250°N 83.75361°W / 40.13250; -83.75361
Websitewww.urbanaohio.com/info-for-pilots.html
Map
I74
Location of airport in Ohio
I74
I74 (the United States)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
02/20 4,400 1,341 Asphalt
01/19 3,000 914 Grass
Statistics (2019)
Aircraft operations59,130
Based aircraft48
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Grimes Field (FAA LID: I74) is a city-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) north of the central business district of Urbana, a city in Champaign County, Ohio, United States.[1] The airport is named after Warren G. Grimes, a forefather in the field of aviation lighting, and his Grimes Manufacturing Company operated the airport until 1987. It primarily serves general aviation traffic.[2] Although it is owned by the City of Urbana, Grimes Field is self-supporting.

History

On 18 September 1941, Urbana City Council accepted a $15,000 gift from Warren G. Grimes, the owner of Grimes Manufacturing Company, which built aircraft lighting systems. The money was to be used to pay more than half of the purchase price for just over 162 acres (66 ha) of land on which to build an airport.[a][3] A total of 30 airplanes flew in for an unofficial "dedication" three days later.[5] By mid October, site preparation was proceeding, with grading and leveling nearly finished.[6] The construction of a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) hangar, which included a cornerstone containing the names of 1,152 individuals who made financial donations to pay for it, began in September 1942. By that point, three of four planned runways were almost complete.[7][8] The airport was opened with a gathering of 100 Civil Air Patrol airplanes on 8 August 1943.[9] The first ground school was held at the start of the following month and an office building had been completed.[10]

A P-61 was flown to the airport in May 1949 to serve as an Air Scout clubhouse.[11] Plans to pave the 2,500-foot (760 m) northeast-southwest runway were announced that December.[12]

A 7,200-square-foot (670 m2) addition to the workshop was mooted in June 1956.[13] In mid 1959, the original hangar on the airport was split in half and the southern portion moved south. This allowed a 68-foot (21 m) section to be spliced in the center to enable larger airplanes to use the structure.[14] By May 1960, the airport was being used by Grimes Manufacturing's Beech 18 test aircraft lights.[15] By late December 1960, the runway had reached 2,700 feet (820 m).[16] An extension lengthening the runway to 3,300 feet (1,000 m) was opened in early September 1961.[17]

Grimes Manufacturing operated the airport until the end of June 1987.[18] That year, the airport received a grant to conduct an environmental assessment as part of an expansion plan.[19]

Approval was given by the city council to build a 12-unit hangar in 1998.[20] A new 4,400-foot (1,300 m) runway, realigned to avoid obstructions, was built in 2001 to replace the old one.[21][22] CareFlight opened a medical helicopter station in a new hangar at the airport in early October 2005.[23]

A new hangar project had been started by the mid 2010s to make space to house more aircraft.[24] In 2017, 20 World War II era B-25 Mitchell bombers were staged at the airport to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid.[25]

The airport received $795,000 in 2021 for facility upgrades, including improving and replacing runways, taxiways, and airport-owned towers. Additional upgrades were to be made to the airport's terminal and multimodal connections to the airport.[26] An additional $144,000 was awarded in 2023 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as part of the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Infrastructure Grant program.[27]

Facilities and aircraft

Facilities

Grimes Field covers an area of 329 acres (133 ha) at an elevation of 1,068 feet (326 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 02/20 with an asphalt surface measuring 4,400 by 100 feet (1,341 x 30 m), and 01/19 with a grass surface measuring 3,000 by 100 feet (914 x 30m).[1] The airport is home to the Airport Cafe, a small restaurant situated at the edge of the parking ramp in the main terminal building.

The airport has a city-operated Fixed Base Operator. The company sells avgas and offers limited amenities.[28]

Aircraft

For the 12-month period ending Sept 8, 2019, the airport had 59,130 aircraft operations, an average of 162 per day: 97% general aviation, 2% air taxi, and <1% military. At that time there were 48 aircraft based at this airport: 38 single-engine and 9 multi-engine airplanes as well as 1 helicopter.[1][29]

Museums

There are 3 museums operating at Grimes Field:

Events

Grimes Field is host to several events each year, such as FAA Wings Seminars, an EAA Young Eagles Event, a Military Appreciation Day, a Hot Air Balloon Festival, and a July 4th Car Show. The airport also hosts the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly In (MERFI).

Accidents & incidents

  • On 5 June 1994, a Renegade Spirit crashed while attempting to return to the airport after developing engine problems.[33]
  • On September 10, 2008, a Cessna 150 crashed while landing at the Grimes Airport. The pilot gradually reduced power while flying the traffic pattern and applied carburetor heat on the base leg. Soon after, the engine began to gradually lose power over a period of 5 seconds. It did not subsequently respond to throttle or mixture control movements. The pilot then established a descent to avoid a stall and landed in a grass area 50 feet short of the runway; after touchdown the nose gear collapsed and the airplane came to an abrupt stop. The probable cause of the accident was found to be a loss of engine power due to carburetor ice.[34]
  • On June 20, 2009, a Piper PA-24 Comanche crashed after departure from the Grimes Airport. During the engine run-up prior to the first flight of the day, the pilot noted there was no resistance on the control knob when he checked the operation of the carburetor heat and there was a slightly “sluggish” return in the RPM as it returned to normal. When he applied carburetor heat during the engine run-up for the second flight of the day, the pilot noticed “RPM needle wiggled down 50” then returned to the set RPM. The second takeoff was normal until the airplane was 200 feet above the runway, when it began to feel “soggy.” The pilot stated he raised the landing gear to reduce drag, but it did not seem like the engine was producing power. The pilot then extended the landing gear and decided to land the airplane in a field off the end of the runway. The landing gear, which was not locked down, collapsed during the landing and the left wing was substantially damaged when it contacted a runway end identifier light. The probable cause of the accident was found to be a failure of the carburetor heat cable attach bracket, which resulted in the inadvertent activation of carburetor heat and the subsequent loss of engine power during takeoff.[35]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Grimes retained an additional approximately 20 acres (8.1 ha), which included the Nutwood Place farm, for himself.[3] The round barn on the property was made available to the Urbana Saddle Club and the woods were donated to the state for a state park.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for I74 PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. effective 13 Sept 2016.
  2. ^ "About Grimes Field Airport". Grimes Field. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b "City Council Accepts Gift from Grimes". Urbana Daily Citizen. 19 September 1941. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Municipal Airport to Be Opened Sunday with Airmeet". Urbana Daily Citizen. 3 August 1943. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Airport Gets Impromptu Dedication". Urbana Daily Citizen. 22 September 1941. p. 1. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  6. ^ "Work is Started on Airport in Urbana". Troy Daily News. 16 October 1941. p. 10. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  7. ^ "Work Started Monday on Hangar Foundations". Urbana Daily Citizen. 8 September 1942. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Cornerstone of Hangar Contains Names of All 1,152 Who Contributed". Urbana Daily Citizen. 15 September 1942. p. 1. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  9. ^ "100 Planes Visit City at Local Airport Opening". Urbana Daily Citizen. 9 August 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  10. ^ "100 Turn Out for 1st Class at Grimes Field". Urbana Daily Citizen. 1 September 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  11. ^ "Black Widow Night Fighter is Given City Air Scout Squadron as Clubhouse". Urbana Daily Citizen. 13 May 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  12. ^ "Improvements Slated for Grimes Field". Urbana Daily Citizen. 14 December 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  13. ^ "Tentative Plans for Additions to Grimes Field are Announced". Urbana Daily Citizen. 8 June 1956. p. 1. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  14. ^ "Enlargement Under Way". Springfield Daily News. 13 July 1959. p. 1. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  15. ^ "Latest in Aircraft Lighting Equipment to Be Seen at Grimes Field on June 2". Urbana Daily Citizen. 27 May 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  16. ^ "Grimes Field One of Best Small City Airports in the Nation". Urbana Daily Citizen. 23 December 1960. pp. 7, 10. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  17. ^ "New Milestone Reached at Grimes Field". Urbana Daily Citizen. 7 September 1961. p. 1. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  18. ^ Allbaugh, Dave (15 November 1986). "Questions Surround Small Urbana Airport as Lease Nears End". Dayton Daily News and Journal Herald. p. 18. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  19. ^ Mast, Joel E. (26 June 1987). "Airport Study Grant Key to Development of Local Economy". Urbana Daily Citizen. pp. 1, 14. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  20. ^ Fox, Kathleen (25 March 1998). "Council Approves New Airport Hangar". Urbana Daily Citizen. pp. A-1, A-6. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  21. ^ Fox, Kathleen (16 August 2001). "Public Invited to Dedication of New Runway at Grimes Field". Urbana Daily Citizen. p. A-1. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  22. ^ Ankrom, Shawn (7 April 2001). "Grimes Field to Be Improved". Springfield News-Sun. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  23. ^ Thompson, Latoya (4 October 2005). "Help is Closer to Your Home". Springfield News-Sun. p. 1C. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  24. ^ "New Face of Grimes Field". Urbana Daily Citizen. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  25. ^ "B-25's at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio". Aviation Trail. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  26. ^ Dawes, Sydney (16 December 2021). "Urbana's Grimes Field to Receive Federal Grant for Upgrades". Springfield News-Sun. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  27. ^ "Grimes Field to Receive Federal Money". Urbana Daily Citizen. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  28. ^ "City of Urbana FBO Info & Fuel Prices at Grimes Fld (I74)". FlightAware. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  29. ^ "AirNav: I74 - Grimes Field Airport". www.airnav.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  30. ^ "About". Champaign Aviation Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  31. ^ "Home". Grimes Flying Lab Foundation. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  32. ^ "Travel Air Restoration". Mid America Flight Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  33. ^ "Pilot Unhurt as Plane Crash Lands at Field". Springfield News-Sun. 7 June 1994. p. 3. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  34. ^ "Cessna 150G crash in Ohio (N3899J) | PlaneCrashMap.com". planecrashmap.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  35. ^ "Piper PA-24 crash in Ohio (N7660P) | PlaneCrashMap.com". planecrashmap.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
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