Grimes Field

Public Use Airport in Urbana, Ohio

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

Grimes Field

* IATA: none
* ICAO: none
* FAA LID: I74

Summary
Airport type| Public
Owner| City of Urbana
Serves| Urbana, Ohio
Built| 1933
Time zone| UTC−05:00 (-5)
• Summer (DST)| UTC−04:00 (-4)
Elevation AMSL| 1,068 ft / 326 m
Coordinates| 40°07′57″N 083°45′13″W﻿ / ﻿40.13250°N 83.75361°W﻿ / 40.13250; -83.75361
Website| www.urbanaohio.com/info-for-pilots.html
Map

I74

Location of airport in Ohio

Show map of Ohio

I74

I74 (the United States)

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Runways
| Direction | Length  | Surface

|
|

ft  | m
02/20  | 4,400  | 1,341  | Asphalt
01/19  | 3,000  | 914  | Grass
Statistics (2019)
| Aircraft operations| 59,130

|

Based aircraft| 48

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

[edit]

The airport was built in the 1930s by the Grimes Manufacturing Company, which built aircraft lighting systems. It was colocated with the home of Warren Grimes, who owned the Grimes Manufacturing Company.[3]

The airport was initially used to test aircraft lights. It officially opened to the public in 1943.[3]

The company operated the airport until 1987.[4]

The runway was expanded in the early 1960s and again in 2001. A facility expansion were completed in 1966, adding 42,000 square feet of space to the airport.[5]

A new hangar project was started in the 2010s to make space to house more aircraft.[6]

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.[7]

## Facilities and aircraft

[edit]

### Facilities

[edit]

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.[8]

The airport received $795,000 in 2021 for facility upgrades, including improving and replacing runways, taxiways, and airport-owned towers. Additional upgrades will be made to the airport's terminal and multimodal connections to the airport.[9] An additional $144,000 were awarded in 2023 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as part of the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Infrastructure Grant program.[10]

### Aircraft

[edit]

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][11]

## Museums

[edit]

There are 3 museums operating at Grimes Field.

### Champaign Aviation Museum

[edit]

The airport is home to the Champaign Aviation Museum, which is located at its north end.[12]

### The Grimes Flying Lab Foundation

[edit]

The Grimes Flying Lab Foundation is located at the airport.[13]

### Northern Branch of the Mid America Flight Museum

[edit]

The northern branch of the Mid America Flight Museum is located at the airport.[14]

A Stinson SM-6000 that was restored at the museum

## Events

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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.[15]
* 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.[16][17]
* On June 8, 2016, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk was damaged during landing at the Grimes Airport. The pilot stated that the airplane porpoised during landing, then veered left off the runway and onto an intersecting runway. There were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's abnormal runway contact during the landing flare, which resulted in a porpoise, hard landing, and runway excursion.[18][19]

## See also

[edit]

* List of airports in Ohio

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for I74 PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. effective 13 Sept 2016.
2. ^ History of Warren Grimes and Grimes Field
3. ^ a b "Warren G. Grimes / Grimes Field Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
4. ^ Allbaugh, Dave (1986-11-15). "Questions Surround Small Urbana Airport as Lease Nears End". Newspapers.com. Dayton Daily News and Journal Herald. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
5. ^ Robbins, Fred (1966-08-19). "Work to Start on Grimes Building". Newspapers.com. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
6. ^ "New face of Grimes Field". Urbana Daily Citizen. 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
7. ^ "B-25's at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio". Aviation Trail, Inc. 2017-04-14. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
8. ^ "City of Urbana FBO Info & Fuel Prices at Grimes Fld (I74)". FlightAware. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
9. ^ "Urbana's Grimes Field to receive federal grant for upgrades". springfield-news-sun. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
10. ^ "Grimes Field to receive federal money". Urbana Daily Citizen. 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
11. ^ "AirNav: I74 - Grimes Field Airport". www.airnav.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
12. ^ "About". Champaign Aviation Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
13. ^ "Home". Grimes Flying Lab Foundation. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
14. ^ "Travel Air Restoration". Mid America Flight Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
15. ^ "Cessna 150G crash in Ohio (N3899J) | PlaneCrashMap.com". planecrashmap.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
16. ^ "Piper PA-24 crash in Ohio (N7660P) | PlaneCrashMap.com". planecrashmap.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
17. ^ "Accident Piper PA-24 Comanche N7660P,". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
18. ^ "Cessna 172 crash in Ohio (N8324E) | PlaneCrashMap.com". planecrashmap.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
19. ^ "Runway excursion Accident Cessna 172 N8324E,". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 2024-05-05.

## External links

[edit]

* Grimes Field - Urbana Municipal Airport
* Aerial image as of 22 March 1994 from USGS The National Map (new runway later built on empty field to the north)
* FAA Terminal Procedures for I74, effective March 20, 2025
* Resources for this airport:
* FAA airport information for I74
* AirNav airport information for I74
* FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
* SkyVector aeronautical chart for I74