![Norm Grier Field (S36) is a small airport backed by a passionate community. [Credit: Meg Godlewski]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/c172-taxi-toward-me-Large.jpeg)
Imagine buying a home because it offered access to an airport, only to later learn the property might change hands and the runway could be lost. That uncertainty lingered for decades at Flying Acres Airpark in Kent, Washington, adjacent to Norman Grier Field (S36), formerly known as Crest Airpark.
In July 2025, the Flying Acres Homeowners Association (FAHA) purchased the airport through New Crest Airpark LLC, an entity created specifically for the purchase and management of the 64-acre property on behalf of the airpark community. According to FAHA members, the airport sale and purchase was decades in the works.
Today there are 116 homes at Flying Acres Airpark. Most of the homeowners have lived there for decades. They raised families, retired from airline careers, and owned multiple airplanes in megabuck and not-so-megabuck homes with hangars attached. Many of the aircraft are vintage. On a sunny afternoon the airport looks like an airshow when everyone wants to be flying.
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For homeowners, airport access is provided by means of grass taxiways to a runway aligned 15/33 and measuring 3,388 feet by 40 feet. The airport sits atop a hill approximately 20 miles south of Seattle and 11 miles southeast of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (KSEA).
Laying the Foundation
The property that became an airport and airpark was first acquired by Al and Virginia Knechtel in the 1960s. Both came from aviation families that helped create other small untowered airports south of Seattle. The airpark runway began as a grass strip, which was later improved to pavement. A fuel concession, paved taxiway, and hangars followed.
After Al Knechtel was killed in an airplane accident in 1964, Virginia married Stan Nesland, and they continued to develop the property. By 1970 subdivision plans were filed with King County to build homes adjacent to the runway, with the first lots being sold on the west side, soon to be followed by homes on the east side. The residential lots came with an easement that allowed the homeowners airport access through 2025.
In 1975 the airport was sold to Bill Lardent and Norman Grier, both pilots who wanted to continue to develop it. A flight school was established, and eventually Lardent sold his share to Grier, who built a home on the slope on the south end of the runway with a gazebo in the unfenced backyard to watch airplanes from.
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The airpark continued to attract residents. In 1985, John Tomlinson, who spent several years on the board of the FAHA, and his wife were looking for lakefront property to build a home. They kept their airplane at Crest Airpark and flew every weekend.
“One day we said, you know, they got houses here, and so we completely shifted,” Tomlinson said. “We went from looking at lake property to airport property. We looked at a bunch of houses and found a vacant lot, and we ended up buying a lot and building.”
Several other homeowners have similar stories. They were attracted to the airport for its location, and they stayed because of the friendly community.
Airport Access Challenges
Because the airport was privately owned, the homeowners knew it was conceivable that Grier might someday decide to sell the property. If that happened, a new owner might not respect the easements that came with the purchase of airpark property. The public-use airport, like any other facility, needed repairs from time to time, and Grier primarily paid for those.
In 1992 the homeowners established the FAHA, with its purpose to secure permanent airport access for homeowners.
The airport was run like a business, and Grier was always around, according to his daughter Rikki Grier Birge, who served as airport manager from 1996 to 2025. Birge grew up at the airport and later raised her family there. Under Birge, the FBO sold fuel and had a robust flight school with contract instructors and 11 aircraft ranging from a Cessna 150 to a Beechcraft Travel Air. It wasn’t uncommon for her children and later grandchildren to join her at the FBO. Birge became the owner of the airport in 2017 when her father died at 87.
At times there were disagreements about who was responsible for airport maintenance, and there were times when this created friction between Grier, Birge, and the homeowners, who benefited from the repairs or improvements but were reluctant to pay for them. Over time, the parties worked through legal and logistical negotiations. A settlement reached in 2008 included a plan for airport sale.
“Part of [that] was that they would have the first right of refusal to buy the airport in 2025,” Birge said.
As 2020 began, a combination of family events, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more than 25 years of airport management found Birge considering retirement and selling the airport, as her grown children had no interest in maintaining the field.
“It was a hard decision,” she said. “Crest was such a community. We worked with the school districts to run ground schools, and hundreds of pilots were trained here.”
Homeowners Step In
The homeowners were ready, said Tomlinson. They needed the majority to buy in to secure the airport, and that happened. Of the 116 homeowners, 93 bought in, contributing equal amounts for the airport purchase.
“They signed an agreement that tied their property to this, and we now have a true homeowners association,” he said. “That means they’re in the game, and they’ve got to stay in the game where they are. That’s what you do. Even after they sell, whoever buys, they’re in.”
According to documents filed with King County, Washington, the airport cost was approximately $3.125 million.
“We are looking at another $3 million of repairs and improvements to adequately polish our gem in the rough,” said Jeff Miller, a retired airline pilot and the FAHA president. “There are no employees at the airport. It is currently operated by volunteers.”
These volunteers cleared trash from around the airport perimeter, and the runway and taxiway were cleared of overgrown ground cover. A small army of homeowners on riding mowers took care of the grass.
Miller is quick to thank the volunteers who have done special projects to clean up the property.
“Rex MacLean gets a lot of credit for managing the cleanup of the runway and taxiways, and for the cleanup of the office/clubhouse, we give most of the credit to Janet Gundlach,” he said.
For the pilots who trained and CFIs who worked at Crest in the past, he said you’ll be glad to know the office still has that sweet smell, but it’s now looking brighter with fresh paint and a floor spruce.
Volunteers, Repairs, and Future Plans
Volunteers manage fuel sales and hangar and tie-down rentals. Flight training is still happening, as there are two airplanes available for the independent contractor CFIs who operate out of the office space in the FBO building.
Some improvements are a few years down the road and will be done in the name of safety and security, according to Miller.
“The entire parking lot will have a perimeter security fence and a quality security gate from the parking lot to the T-hangars,” he said, adding that they will be exploring state grants for funding that will enable them to make repairs around the airport. “We are proud to have an airport owned by our community. Our goals are being met, primarily to keep Crest an airport in perpetuity.”
At the present time the airport is officially known as Norm Grier Field Airport. FAHA has talked about changing the name back to Crest Airpark. The new ownership will likely mean new neighbors, said Eric Eversole, FAHA board member and a 25-year resident.
“People were reluctant to move here because there was a question of what would be happening with the airport [in the future],” Eversole said. “The question of what’s going to happen has been completely resolved.”
The Hilltop Runway
As the name implies, Crest Airpark sits atop a hill that requires shifting your car into low gear to climb.
The field elevation is 472 feet, and the runway measures 3,288 feet by 40 feet.
AirNav.com notes the runway lights are low intensity, and at this time the runway markings are nonstandard and faded.
The runway is aligned 15/33, and TPA is 1,500 feet with left traffic. The airport is surrounded by tall pine trees, which make it difficult to see when approaching by air unless you are at an altitude of at least 2,500 feet msl.
Student pilots coming from other airports are taught to look for Lake Meridian, which aligns on the 45 for Runway 33, and twin water towers on the west side of the runway, which help them find Runway 15.
You see the power station and rusted roofs of the hangars before you see the runway. There are power lines that run perpendicular to both approaches. Flight instructors caution students to achieve an altitude of at least 650 feet over the wires.
There are trees at the approach ends of the runway that require pilots to fly a slightly angled pattern—“the dogleg,” as opposed to a normal rectangular pattern.
This feature first appeared in the March Issue 968 of the FLYING print edition.
