On September 21st, 1972, Hope Regional Airpark was host to an amazing event! A Boeing 737 landed and took off several times on our 4,600-foot grass runway.
Hope Airpark was chosen by the Boeing Corporation as the perfect laboratory to test the 737's performance on a grass field.
The plane was fitted with special low-pressure tires, and the runway was wetted by tanker trucks to test performance on wet grass.
Resulting tire ruts left by the 90,000-pound aircraft were measured and recorded by Boeing engineers.
The Boeing pilot was Lew Wallick Jr.
