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SeaRey Star!
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 Photo Info
Posted By: Hal Brown
Date Posted: Jul 12, 2014
Description: Puff and New Friends parked on the blistering Deming pavement.
Date Taken: Jul 12, 2014
Place Taken: Deming, NM
Owner: Dan Nickens
File Name: Water_Surfer_and_Bombers.jpg   - Photo HTML
Full size     - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZDQ90000h">
Medium    - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZDQ90000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZDQ90000s">
Category: 502, N346PE
Favorite option: If you want this item to be marked as a favorite, click on the black heart. Water Bombers and a Little Surfer - Puff Flies Hom    Make Cover Photo     
Clear Cover Photo      

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Read what others had to say:

Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Anticipating another hot, rough day in the air, we got an early start. An early start, followed by an abrupt stop.<br /><br />“Can’t leave the desk until my relief comes in,” I was told. <br /><br />“Taxi?”<br /><br />Laugh. “Not in this town.”<br /><br />One of the other hotel guests waiting for the bus was a visitor from Russia. “Just got my Private Pilot’s License,” he explained. “Much cheaper here than in Europe.”<br />He was on his way to New York City from California. His girlfriend was flying over from Russia to meet him, then they were going to fly back and return the airplane to the flight school in San Diego.<br /><br />“What a great plan!”<br /><br />“Yeah, but is really slow. Only a Cessna one seven two available. Takes much time. Wish I could take faster plane.”<br /><br />“But look at the sights you’ll see flying low and slow in the Cessna! Slow down and enjoy it,” was my advice.<br /><br />“Can slow down and enjoy much more when girl friend is here.”<br /><br />Ah, the perspective of youth!<br /><br />The hotel bus wasn’t moving until the day crew came in. By that time there was a lot of daylight already past. Puff passed the wasting daylight with some water bombers waiting for a call to fire fighting.<br />     
  
Steve Kessinger - Aug 07,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Planes 3: Splashing and Dashing? <br /><br /><br />We should start a campaign...      Attachments:  

planes.jpg
planes

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Big black hills west of Deming were evidence that as hot as the desert is in summer, it was once a much hotter place. What a sight that would have been! A whole desert full of smoking cones!      Attachments:  

Black Bumps.jpg
Black Bumps

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Avoiding the strongest wind meant sharing airspace down low and dirty with the sidewinders.      Attachments:  

Down with the Sidewinders.jpg
Down with the Sidewinders

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    It doesn’t take much water to float a SeaRey, but this one was too little to offer much relief to a too long dry hull.      Attachments:  

Little Relief.jpg
Little Relief

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    A hundred miles from any town real Wild West reed rustlers are out there wrangling the tumbling tumbleweed. Or some kind of sticks they can tie up in bundles. I tried asking them as we inched by overhead. Their answer may have been garbled by the prop wash: “No habla englese!”      Attachments:  

Wrangling Mesquite.jpg
Wrangling Mesquite

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Did those jets just fly down into the ground? Looks bad, but at least their shadows have a shallow impact.      Attachments:  

Shot Down .jpg
Shot Down

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    The tough ground is getting carved up by a little green creek!<br />It’s gravity. The rock gets pushed up, the pull of gravity brings it back down.<br />With a little help from the rain.<br />So much destruction by so little water.<br />      Attachments:  

Cracking Up.jpg
Cracking Up

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Amazing what a difference a little water can make.      Attachments:  

Stark Change.jpg
Stark Change

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    The intricate reach of streamlets weaves a fine web to collect any little drops of water that try to run away. There is no escape here from the grasp of gravity! (Well, except in the SeaRey when the bumps go negative g.)      Attachments:  

Spider Veins.jpg
Spider Veins

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Out of service runways are marked with an X. This old runway is an X and its status is unknown. At least according to the GPS.<br />Does it really matter? There’s no one around to complain if you land on the X.<br />      Attachments:  

Runway Markings.jpg
Runway Markings

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    A little stream washes across a wide channel making its mark in a big desert. <br />See what can be accomplished with just a little persistence!<br />      Attachments:  

Traces of Water.jpg
Traces of Water

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Death in the desert gets varying degrees of recognition. Sometimes it’s just a mound of desert soil, surrounded by a ring of stone and marked with a cross. If there is more money and time, a simple concrete wall contains the covering soil. In all cases this graveyard is attended by peaceful isolation, miles from anyone still living.      Attachments:  

Deserted Crosses.jpg
Deserted Crosses

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    You wouldn’t think there would be enough fuel out here for a descent fire.<br />There was enough, however, for a red circle on the GPS map signifying a Temporary Flight Restriction around the smoke. Though Puff was friends with the water bombers, I was happily on the other side of the ridge from the wildfire.<br />      Attachments:  

Low Smoke.jpg
Low Smoke

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    When this reservoir was built, Will Rogers attended the dedication ceremony and said, “If this was my dam, I’d mow it.”<br />Apparently it hasn’t got much wetter since then.<br />      Attachments:  

Unflooded Territory.jpg
Unflooded Territory

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    A giant glassy mirror is so much more impressive when it is surrounded by mountains.<br />The aerial serenity can almost make you forget what a hellish place it would have been as a “reservation” back in Geronimo’s days.      Attachments:  

Reflecting Pool.jpg
Reflecting Pool

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    It’s a three dome dam….with that 1930’s retro look.      Attachments:  

3 domes.jpg
3 domes

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    The river has neatly cut right through the layers of rock, leaving matching lines on either site of the wet knife.      Attachments:  

Nicely Sliced.jpg
Nicely Sliced

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    If you want to get through the mountains in a seaplane, following a river is the way to do it. A river runs right smack through these mountains and the Needles Eye Wilderness Area. Though the river might not always be safely beckoning to a seaplane, it is easier to consider than the tall rocks.      Attachments:  

Throughway.jpg
Throughway

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    It’s easy to spot the toughest rocks in the neighborhood. They are still standing tall long after their fellow rocks have been washed to the sea.      Attachments:  

Last Rocks Remaining.jpg
Last Rocks Remaining

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    How much energy does it take to tilt a slab of earth?<br />A lot more than is currently available at this location.<br />      Attachments:  

The Big Tilt.jpg
The Big Tilt

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    It’s all downhill when you start digging on top of a mountain.      Attachments:  

Downhill Slide.jpg
Downhill Slide

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    You gotta get a pretty penny for copper to justify messing up spectacular scenery this way.      Attachments:  

Industrial Disease.jpg
Industrial Disease

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    The walls of the slime pond don’t look at all nasty, but in this case, looks are deceiving.      Attachments:  

Holding Back the Slime.jpg
Holding Back the Slime

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Slices of a giant slime cake look pretty appetizing from overhead.      Attachments:  

Slime Cake.jpg
Slime Cake

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    When the slurry settles down all that’s left is one big mess.<br />True, but it’s a spectacularly massive mess.<br />      Attachments:  

Settled Pond.jpg
Settled Pond

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Imparting a linear order to mined slimes is no small feat. <br /><br />Um, okay, so it’s straight slime. Aren’t we supposed to be flying to the San Juan Islands? Wouldn’t they be possibly more photogenic?<br /><br />Possibly, but here and now is so distracting!<br /><br />Good luck explaining the gas bill to Richard? “All this gas for one leg in Arizona?” “Yes, I spent a lot of time circling slime.”      Attachments:  

Lines of Settlement.jpg
Lines of Settlement

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    It’s not hard to spot what’s irrigated.<br />It’s great training for the football players too. Keep them on the green and they can run circles around the other team.<br />      Attachments:  

Water Spots.jpg
Water Spots

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Talk about photographic opportunities! Mountain ponds!<br />Another mine. More slime. More gas gone.<br />But look at all these colorful mountain ponds.<br />Made by mining. Remember how scenic the San Juans are?<br />Yes, and they’ll still be scenic when we get there.<br />      Attachments:  

Mountain Ponds.jpg
Mountain Ponds

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Much too dry for SeaReying fun, but for an emergency landing it would be just fine.<br />But how would you get out? You can’t walk on a slime pond. It’s way worse than quick sand.<br />No worries. Rescuers could build a spoil bridge out into the slime.<br />Why would they?<br />I’d bribe them with a SeaRey ride.<br />      Attachments:  

Drying Pond.jpg
Drying Pond

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Artists and miners conspiring to mix giant color pots?<br />Sure, it’s a great marketing ploy: “Yes, our resource recovery company has joined with landscape artists to bring color and art to wilderness.”<br />      Attachments:  

Paint Pots.jpg
Paint Pots

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Using giant vat of colors, the miners have painted modern art across the mine walls!      Attachments:  

Multi Colored Stadium.jpg
Multi Colored Stadium

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    These steps would make a magnificent temple!<br />To what? The God of Waste?<br />No. To the ancient god of heavy metals.<br />Oh, you mean Alice Cooper.<br />      Attachments:  

Stained Steps.jpg
Stained Steps

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Unmined and untamed, there’s still some wild country out there.      Attachments:  

Rough Stuff.jpg
Rough Stuff

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    The Gila River breaks free of the mountains and spreads out onto the plains.<br /><br />Plane relief for a flatlander!<br />      Attachments:  

Breakout.jpg
Breakout

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    It’s all a jumble of rocks at the edge of the mountain.      Attachments:  

Mixedup Rocks.jpg
Mixedup Rocks

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    The lines get blurred around the edges where different geological environments collide.      Attachments:  

Contact Zone.jpg
Contact Zone

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Great care would have to be taken in making an emergency landing where the towering cacti congregate.      Attachments:  

Prickly Place.jpg
Prickly Place

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Water makes for some sharp dividing lines in the desert.      Attachments:  

Water Lines.jpg
Water Lines

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Separating the desert from the farms is as simple as an irrigation canal.      Attachments:  

Dividing Line.jpg
Dividing Line

    
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 12,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Flat valley farming in the shadow of the mountains seems so irregular.      Attachments:  

Divided Desert.jpg
Divided Desert

    
  
Jerry Ratcliffe - Jul 17,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Dan, I see that you take along a cockpit cover for the trip. Is it worth the weight and amount of space it <br />takes up, for only a few days?     
  
Daniel Paul Myers - Jul 17,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    The question is: is it worth not having?(especially if it goes with the <br />plane) Very little space taken especially for one person. It would easily <br />fit <br />in the nose if needed.     
  
Dan Nickens - Jul 18,2014   Viewers  | Reply
    Only a few days? Have you peaked at this tale's ending, Jerry?<br /><br />Well, no matter, the decision to carry Puff's canopy cover was easy: it has her name on it. Personal air mail was the fastest way to get it to Seattle. (Oops! Spoiler alert.)     


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