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Splash and Dash Searey Seaplane Delights

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Posted By: Hal Brown

Date Posted: Apr 25, 2011

Description: It’s not a good omen to start the second day of a new year of SeaRey flying when the sky looks like this. I should have turned around and parked. I didn’t.

Date Taken: Apr 25, 2011

Place Taken: Nelson, NZ

Owner: Dan Nickens

File Name: Dark_and_Bumpy.jpg - Photo HTML

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Category: 446, Yacht Tending NZ

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Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	The air wasn’t nearly as bumpy as the ground and the clouds would indicate.		Attachments: Not so bad

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	How bad could it be when there are patches of blue?		Attachments: Looking Good

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	With all the threatening clouds far in the background, it was no worry to be parked beside the big boat.		Attachments: Safely Harbored

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	While waiting for a flight assignment there was plenty of time to sit and contemplate good fortune.		Attachments: Break Time

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	Work? Well, waiting to fly.		Attachments: Waiting for Work

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	Off the boat and ready to fly in beautiful conditions! After such a foreboding start to the day, it was light breezes, blue skies and white clouds for flying.<br /><br />Mary K was perfect too. Everything was working. It was one of those rare days when everything falls right into place: nice sky, perfect plane, great people to fly with.<br /><br />One of the flights was with the boss. It was his last day and he wanted to prove he could fly Mary K by himself. He got a workout, but he got everything right. He was ready to go solo with his lady.<br />		Attachments: Ready for fun

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	When the little rubber boat got away from the crew, the SeaRey charged to the rescue, delivering the lead hostess to its recovery.		Attachments: Working Plane

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	Some days you can be both rescuer and rescued. When undetected damage turns into a gaping wound in the hull, you go swimming. It helps when it happens right next to the big boat.<br /><br />It was such a pretty landing at the end of a good day. The boss slid right on to the water and I relaxed, slouching into the passenger seat.<br /><br />After a few seconds of step taxi, there was a sudden lurch forward. As my head was forced forward and down, held only by the shoulder harnesses, I saw water at my feet. It gushed towards the bow as the nose went down.<br /><br />Rudely jerking the stick away and pulling it full aft, I yelled “My Plane!” At the same time I jammed the throttle fully forward.<br /><br />There was no time for argument from the left seat. My fervent prayer was that the boat would stay afloat so I could beach it on the shore.<br /><br />No quickly conceived prayer of mine could overcome the flooding water. In a matter of time so small that the words could just be thought before being overcome, the cockpit was awash. The once flying boat was now turning submarine.<br /><br />As the cold water moved up my chest I immediately unbuckled my seatbelt. I turned in horror to my left to see a struggle in the left seat. With a millisecond to spare before going under, the boss' belt released.<br /><br />The nose went down as the tail went up. Standing in the seat I heard the engine behind me still trying to push us. It struck me that there was no point to wasting all that effort. That those blades could also make sushi was the second thought. I ducked under water and turned the ignition off. When I came back up it was quiet except for the gently lapping waves.<br /><br />The quiet was short lived. Every support boat was launching from the SuRi. It was like a beehive erupting.<br /><br />The boss quietly asked, “What did I do wrong?”<br /><br />“Nothing. The hull must have cracked open. You made a great landing. You didn’t do anything wrong.”<br /><br />“It’s me,” I was thinking, “It is my fault. I should have taken better care of Mary K. I should have insisted the damaged hull be changed out, not repaired. I should have seen it coming. I should have known something was wrong.”<br /><br />The first boat out picked up my fellow swimmer. I was next in line, but I didn’t want to leave my responsibility to sink alone. “Get me a line. We need to pull her to the SuRi.” I stayed in the cold water with Mary trying to figure a way out of this nightmare.<br /><br />MK finally settled back level with water up to her wings. The work boat brought a rope. I dove down to attach it to the bow. “Pull her slowly to the boat,” I asked.<br /><br />There was nothing to do but watch her slowly pulled through the water. Steve came by on a jet ski. “Are you ready to get out of the water, Captain, or do you plan to go down with the ship?”<br /><br />I gave that some thought. “Okay. I’ll ride with you.”<br /><br />The ride lasted about 2 seconds. I was focused on Mary’s slow progress and a gradual settling to her stern. Steve gunned the big jet ski. I slid right back into the water.<br /><br />“Come on back aboard,” Steve offered. <br /><br />“Forget it,” I told him. “I need to attach the lifting cables anyway.”<br /><br />With the lifting cables attached, I climbed up onto the SuRi. The rails of the boat were lined with passengers and crew, all viewing the sad spectacle.<br /><br />The hoist began to slowly lift Mary up. Water gushed from the bottom of the hull. Water trapped in the aft portion caused her to tilt nose upward. I jumped back in the water, grabbed her nose ring, and pulled her back to level letting all the water drain out. When that was done, I went back to the boat.<br /><br />She was almost back aboard. “Wait!” I called out. “The gear is up.” Mary’s cradle was designed for gear down. The only way to put her onboard was to get the gear down.<br /><br />As the airplane hung in limbo, I went to the cockpit. “Come on, Mary. Let me put them down.” Though completely soaked with saltwater, her electric gear slid smoothly into place. “Good girl.”<br /><br />On the big boat there was great commotion. Guests and crew surrounded us. Someone bought me a towel and wrapped it around my shoulders. The boss’ wife came over and gave me a hug followed by a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so thankful you’re okay.”<br /><br />I smiled, grateful for the thought, but I didn’t feel okay.<br />		Attachments: Rescue Two

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	If only for a second, Mary Kay was flying once more. The great gaping hole in her hull was visible for anyone to see.<br /><br />As we were both staring at it, the boss asked me again, “Did I do that?”<br /><br />Quietly I said, “No. You made a great landing. It has nothing to do with you.”<br /><br />My friend Steve stepped up. He said with disgust dripping in his voice, “I say we push it off the back of the boat. Let it sink and be done with it.”<br /><br />I was shocked into numbness.<br /><br />With just a moment’s thought, the boss said softly, “No. I want it on the boat.” He paused and all was quiet. “I want a SeaRey on this boat as soon as possible.” There was no further talk. Steve walked away. The boss left.<br /><br />I seethed. “How dare he? How dare he sentence this girl to death! She saved my life. Had this happened anywhere but here in the calm water by the boat, anything could have happened. She could have broken in two on the waves. She could have sunk so far from anyone it would have been days before we were found. We could have been swept out to sea in the currents. She saved me and your boss! She’s the reason you still have someone to work for, and you want to finish her. No! No way!” I kept the rant to myself.<br /><br />The crowd finally thinned out. The crew went back to work. Only the ship’s engineer stood beside me. “Is there anything we can do?” he asked.<br /><br />Of course! There was so much to do! “Yes. I’ll need to rinse her off completely, inside and out. And then I want to spray everything with corrosion proofing.”<br /><br />“I’ll help,” he said. And we went to work.<br /><br />From the baggage cockpit I recovered my soggy camera. The boss was watching from an upper deck. “Is it ruined?” he asked. I shrugged. That was the least of my worries.<br /><br />The sun was getting low in the sky. Steve came over and said, “You need to get into some dry clothes and we should probably be going soon.”<br /><br />“No. I’m fine. I need to get the engine started.”<br /><br />“Don’t worry about the engine. I’m afraid you’re gonna catch a cold.”<br /><br />“It’s very important that I start the engine,” I tried to explain without showing my irritation.<br /><br />“The engine didn’t even go under water.”<br /><br />“It may have gotten some saltwater in the exhaust. I want to make sure I get it all out and get it going.”<br /><br />“It really doesn’t matter,” Steve said patiently.<br /><br />“Of course it matters. It matters to me. I’m going to start the engine.”<br /><br />“No. You’re not thinking clearly. You’ve just gotten out of sunken seaplane. You’ve been in cold water a long time. The engine is just not that important.”<br /><br />Why couldn’t he see? Starting the engine would bring Mary back from the dead. “I’ve never killed an airplane, and I won’t let her die,” my mind was screaming. “He just doesn’t care.” I was mad. Really mad. Fighting mad.<br /><br />“Damn it! I’m going to start this engine!” I snarled. “I know what needs to be done. I’ve never known it so clearly.”<br /><br />Steve had never seen me angry, and I was violently angry. He shook his head, “You do what you have to do, then.”<br /><br />I tried. I really tried. There was no power left in her. No heart beat to start the fuel pumps. There was no pulse.<br /><br />In defeated sadness and silence, I let Steve fly me away in the helicopter.<br />		Attachments: Back in the Air

Martin West - Apr 26,2011 Viewers | Reply


	Sad finish. I presume that was the finish of your time with SuRi, or did you oversee the rebuilding of Mary-K? I'm glad you and the boss survived without injury. Very surprised at Steve's reaction, though. Whether you fly a rag and tube U/L, LSA, GA, warbird, airliner, autogiro or helicopter, we are all avaiators and should support each other in difficult times. And to have the affrontery to suggest the boss' toy be thrown overboard.... hmmm. Subconscious jealousy, perhaps? :-)

Russ Garner - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	That's not the end of the story I was hopping for Dan, but we know the stories not over and MK II will take up duties. Glade you and the Boss made it out ok and what do helicopter pilots care, if it was a helicopter going down I would let go.

Joe Varner - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	Im glad everyone is ok. I never considered a problem with the hull before. It makes me think twice about <br />landing in some of the secluded alligator infested central Florida lakes with nobody around to fish me out.

Dan Nickens - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	Without getting too technical, Joe, this hull was involved in a prior serious incident that undermined its structural integrity (see the very first posting in this series, 'Going Low Downunder'). You probably don't have to worry about alligators in your SeaRey unless it too has been smacked down nose first on top of 3' waves in 35 knot gusting winds at something over maximum gross weight. PS I didn't do it!

Joe Varner - Apr 25,2011 Viewers | Reply


	Ok, I feel better now. I guess I have been watching to many episodes of swamp people on TV.

Jack Jones - Apr 29,2011 Viewers | Reply


	This might seem like a dumb question but it makes you wonder if there are flaws in the fiberglass.

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