January 24, 2020
By News Director Jared Atha
The Boeing Company is working on plans to perform flight tests of its new 777X jetliner at Clinton-Sherman Airport in Burns Flat.
The revelation came at a meeting of the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority earlier this month. According to The Oklahoman, an unidentified fuel provider located at the airport told officials at that meeting he was planning for a six-month operation. Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman Paul Bergman declined to comment on the report, which said refurbished 737 Max jets would be flight-tested in Oklahoma as well.
The Oklahoman said a Boeing spokesman broadly confirmed plans to use Clinton-Sherman for flight tests. However, the spokesman declined to share additional details about specific aircraft or the kinds of tests to be carried out, citing “the proprietary nature of the tests.”
Bergman declined to comment on the report, which said refurbished 737 Max jets would be flight-tested in Oklahoma as well.
No contract is in place and one cannot be approved until the state authority’s next meeting in February, the newspaper stated.
The move is somewhat surprising, as Boeing normally conducts flight tests of its new commercial airplanes at Seattle’s Boeing Field. However, a source familiar with Boeing’s desire to use Boeing Field for 777X flight tests said the company ran into obstacles not encountered with prior, smaller jets.
The trademark retractable wingtips on the 777X, when extended, make the airplane body and wings wider than the runway at King County International Airport–Boeing Field, so tests there would require a special permit and exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Burns Flat airport, built just before World War II, has been used by Boeing before. The jet maker used its massive, 13,500-foot runway in 2013 and 2015 for tests involving 737s and 747-800 jets.
The most recent tests could begin as early as March.
