A Mile to Land (Longest Runways)
Published by Steve Campion. Category: Transportation
Are you flying a big airplane? Do you need plenty of runway? Most commercial jetliners need a mile or more to take off. A 747 needs a mile and a half. Novice pilots might want more. Washington has 34 airport runways one mile or longer and four runways extending two miles. Our WA-List below shows all those Washington civilian landing strips of one mile or more.
The longest (pictured here in a Google Earth image) began life as Moses Lake Army Air Base in 1942, the year after the attack on Pearl Harbor that pushed the United States into World War II. The military wanted inland airstrips and the Columbia Basin of Grant County offered it plenty of land. The wartime base near Moses Lake became a permanent installation in 1948, was renamed Larson Air Force Base in 1950, and the original 10,000-foot runway extended to 12,000 feet over the next decade with the arrival of the 62nd Troop Carrier Wing and a Boeing Flight Center. By the time US Air Force closed the base in 1966, a newly-created Port of Moses Lake opened to civilian service with one of the longest runways in America. It is still the longest in the state of Washington. The ample space — “wiggle room” you might say — has made the facility ideal for pilot training for decades. It was even designated as a potential emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle fleet.
Several other Washington airports can handle long take-off and landing requirements. Of the state’s ten longest runways (10,000 feet or more), Moses Lake has two, Seattle has two, and Spokane has one. The remaining five aren’t even concrete. They are water. Puget Sound boasts several marine seaplane bases whose designated boundaries are known to pilots and boaters but are not always clearly visible to the eye. Our list includes eight one-mile-or-more seaplane base runways (shown in italic type). The longest is in Poulsbo.
All lengths and widths are measured below in feet.
LONGEST CIVILIAN AIRPORT RUNWAYS IN WASHINGTON
| Rank | Code | Airport | City | Runway | Length | Width |
| 1. | MWH | Grant County International | Moses Lake | 14L/32R | 13,503 | 200 |
| 2. | 83Q | Port of Poulsbo Marina Moorage SPB | Poulsbo | 13/31 | 12,000 | 4,000 |
| 3. | SEA | Seattle-Tacoma International | Seattle | 16L/34R | 11,901 | 150 |
| 4. | GEG | Spokane International | Spokane | 03/21 | 11,002 | 150 |
| 5. | 0W7 | Floathaven SPB | Bellingham | 12/30 | 10,000 | 4,000 |
| 5. | W33 | Friday Harbor SPB | Friday Harbor | 03/21 | 10,000 | 2,000 |
| 5. | S60 | Kenmore Air Harbor SPB | Kenmore | 16/34 | 10,000 | 1,000 |
| 5. | W49 | Rosario SPB | Rosario | 16/34 | 10,000 | 1,000 |
| 5. | BFI | Boeing Field / King County International | Seattle | 13R/31L | 10,000 | 200 |
| 5. | MWH | Grant County International | Moses Lake | 04/22 | 10,000 | 100 |
| 11. | 0W0 | Seattle Seaplanes SPB | Seattle | 18/36 | 9,500 | 300 |
| 12. | SEA | Seattle-Tacoma International | Seattle | 16C/34C | 9,426 | 150 |
| 13. | PAE | Snohomish County Paine Field | Everett | 16R/34L | 9,010 | 150 |
| 14. | SEA | Seattle-Tacoma International | Seattle | 16R/34L | 8,500 | 150 |
| 15. | GEG | Spokane International | Spokane | 07/25 | 8,199 | 150 |
| 16. | PSC | Tri Cities | Pasco | 03L/21R | 7,711 | 150 |
| 17. | PSC | Tri Cities | Pasco | 12/30 | 7,703 | 150 |
| 18. | YKM | Yakima Air Terminal | Yakima | 09/27 | 7,604 | 150 |
| 19. | PUW | Pullman-Moscow Regional | Pullman | 06/24 | 6,730 | 100 |
| 20. | BLI | Bellingham International | Bellingham | 16/34 | 6,701 | 150 |
| 21. | ALW | Walla Walla Regional | Walla Walla | 02/20 | 6,527 | 150 |
| 22. | CLM | William R Fairchild International | Port Angeles | 08/26 | 6,347 | 150 |
| 23. | DEW | Deer Park Municipal | Deer Park | 16/34 | 6,100 | 75 |
| 24. | W33 | Friday Harbor SPB | Friday Harbor | 12/30 | 6,000 | 1,000 |
| 25. | PWT | Bremerton National | Bremerton | 02/20 | 6,000 | 150 |
| 26. | SFF | Felts Field | Spokane | 04W/21W | 6,000 | 100 |
| 27. | EAT | Pangborn Memorial | Wenatchee | 12/30 | 5,700 | 150 |
| 28. | ELN | Bowers Field | Ellensburg | 07/25 | 5,590 | 150 |
| 29. | W37 | American Lake SPB | Lakewood | 02/20 | 5,500 | 500 |
| 29. | OLM | Olympia Regional | Tumwater | 17/35 | 5,500 | 150 |
| 29. | EPH | Ephrata Municipal | Ephrata | 03/21 | 5,500 | 75 |
| 32. | BVS | Skagit Regional | Burlington | 11/29 | 5,478 | 100 |
| 33. | RNT | Renton Municipal | Renton | 16/34 | 5,382 | 200 |
| 34. | AWO | Arlington Municipal | Arlington | 16/34 | 5,332 | 100 |
IMAGE: Google Earth image of Grant County Regional Airport, Moses Lake.
SOURCE: Data for this list was derived from data in Washington State Department of Transportation: Washington State Airport Guide, September, 2014.
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