Monday, February 04, 2008

Floatplane Takeoff (was "Seaplane")

Maggie Takeoff

Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

A common sight (and noise) for those living on and around Lake Union is floatplanes that take off and land there. This very familiar plane to Seattle television viewers came into view above some houseboat roofs in the Eastlake neighborhood while I was out shooting. It's "Maggie," the KING 5 TV Evening Magazine plane. Kind of funny how it is lifting off in front of market rival KCPQ 13 Fox TV headquarters visible behind that line of boats on the west shore.

15 comments:

John said...

An excellent photo. Your timing is perfect.

Denton said...

Kim, as a beta tester for the City Daily Photo Blog (CDPB) Version 2 portal, I looked your site up and sure enough it appears on Version 2. Hopefully it will not be long and your portal traffic will increase.

Denton said...

PS: I also marked your site as one of my favorites. This new feature of the CDPB version 2 is a nice touch.

Chris said...

Great photo, Kim. Do the TV stations use seaplanes instead of helicopters? I'll have to show my husband.

BTW, I noted that you have a link to West Seattle Blog on your site. We know Tracy! She used to work for my husband in Las Vegas. Small world!

Kim said...

John, Why, thank you!

Denton, Many thanks. I too am supposed to be helping beta test, but when I looked last week it still wasn't up. Now I see it, so hooray, it won't be long. I'm honored that you would make SDP a fave in the portal view. Thanks!

Chris, Hey thanks! The stations also have traffic/news helocopters in addition to any seaplanes they might have. That's cool that you know one of the folks behind West Seattle Blog. I first became aware of them last year when both our blogs were featured in the same blog article in Metroblogging Seattle.

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I enjoy hearing from you!
-Kim

Jim Klenke said...

What looks normal to you is strange to me. See a sea plane, much less one for a TV station. I would probably stare at it every time I saw it taking off or landing. Its very neat.

Bob Crowe said...

A perfect exposure. I love to watch the seaplanes take off and land in Lake Union when I visit Seattle. There never seems to be quite enough room with the hill to the north but they always make it. This picture and your theme day post remind me of my friends in Wallingford and Ballard.

Joy said...

Perfect timing! Were you posed to take the photo?

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo. How's your Monday so far?

joy
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Geologychick said...

AWESOME SHOT!

Susan said...

Nicely captured!

Kim said...

Jim, I'm glad you like seeing them. They are a constant in the air here, so you would enjoy it.

Strangetastes, Glad it brings to mind your friends. The planes head straight toward your Wallingford friend's house when they take off, then veer west along the ship canal toward your Ballard friend's house.

Joy, Thanks. No, I was shooting houseboats whem I heard the roar of the plane's engine and followed it with my camera.

Geology Chick, Thank you! Hey, what's your ETA?

Zentmrs, Thanks very much!

-Kim

Anonymous said...

Great shot. A point of distinction. That aircraft is a Floatplane, not a Seaplane. A Floatplane is an aircraft whose wheels have been removed or modified and floats are added. A seaplane is one whose body is designed to land on water directly (like the old PBY's or the iconic Pan Am Clippers of old).

Seattle's Lake Union is considered by some to be the second busiest Float and Seaplane Airport in the USA. (first place by a long shot is Anchorage, where up to 200 take off daily in the summer).

Kenmore Air operates the one you shot, along with one of the largest fleet of Otters and Beavers in North America. No small task considering deHavilland Beaver production line shut down in 1967. They claim to have rebuilt more than 135 of these workhorses.

This is Seattle at play and in business. The very first Boeing was a Float Plane (the B & W 1), as airports basicly had not been invented yet... It is one of the reasons Boeing has a plant at the south end of Lake Washington even to this day... although they build only the 737 there now... it was one of several sites that built float and seaplanes over the years for the Mighty B. At the time launched, the Boeing Clipper was the largest airplane ever built. Only 12 ever flew, all for Pan Am, taking folks from Seattle to San Francisco, then to the far east in real style. Mathews Beach Park, just north of Sand Point, was the Seattle Airbase for the Pan Am China Clipper system.

As for Floatplanes on Lake Union... in summer they are in and out up to 30 times a day, dodgeing tour boats, sailboats, kites and ducks... They may be noisey, but they have been here since 1915.

Geologychick said...

Our ETA is - when the housing market picks up again here in SoCal. We should've sold the house back in fall'05 when things were really expensive! LOL!

Kim said...

Guide Greg, thanks so much for this distinction! I always love it when you leave a comment and share your wealth of Seattle knowledge!

Geologychick, Oh man, I hear ya. Spring is prime time, so I wish you well in the market. Good news is, things are sitting for a long time and going down in price locally, too, so your profit and buy margins will probably be similar to what they would have been. You'll still come out ahead as this market is still not as high as yours is. Good luck!
-KIm

Rob said...

I have always had trouble capturing floatplanes with my camera. I guess I am too slow. At the lake cabin, they are a frequent sight, but not as colorful as your TV float plane.