Russell Airport

The specific reason for closure is not officially documented. As a privately owned airfield (FAA identifier 3IS6, owned by Robert Russell), the closure was most likely a personal decision by the owner. Common reasons for such closures include retirement, sale of the property, the high cost of insurance and maintenance, or a lack of use. There is no evidence to suggest it was closed for military conversion, urban development, or as the result of a major accident.

The airport site has been fully converted back to agricultural use. High-resolution satellite imagery of the coordinates shows the faint outline of the former north-south runway, which has been tilled and is now indistinguishable from the surrounding cultivated fields. A private home and a building that likely served as a hangar or equipment shed still exist at the north end of the former property, but all aviation infrastructure is gone.

Russell Airport was a small, private-use general aviation airfield. Its primary role was to support the recreational flying activities of its owner and potentially other local pilots. It consisted of a single unpaved, north-south turf runway (18/36) measuring approximately 2,600 feet in length. Operations would have been limited to light, single-engine aircraft such as Pipers, Cessnas, or similar models. Its significance was purely local, serving as a personal airstrip in a rural, agricultural region of Iroquois County, Illinois.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Russell Airport. The land has been repurposed for farming, and the airport has been officially closed and de-listed from aviation databases and charts for over a decade. Re-establishing an airport on the site would require a significant private investment and initiative from the current landowner, which is considered highly unlikely.