08-20-2022, 06:19 PM
I think that hump is where they touched, briefly. They were probably correct that another day or two and they'd have been locked in.
Before someone asks -- the reason they left the landing gear down is because it is hydraulically powered, and therefore can't be raised without the engines running. A floating seaplane has no brakes, so when the engines are running, you are moving forward, period. There is no room in the marina for that, so they had to tow out with the gear down. They had run the engines while still in the parking lot to make sure all was good, but shut them down until they were well out into the bay proper.
Before someone asks -- the reason they left the landing gear down is because it is hydraulically powered, and therefore can't be raised without the engines running. A floating seaplane has no brakes, so when the engines are running, you are moving forward, period. There is no room in the marina for that, so they had to tow out with the gear down. They had run the engines while still in the parking lot to make sure all was good, but shut them down until they were well out into the bay proper.