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Thursday Thunder – The Weston Sea-Era

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This might be more appropriate on a post from weird aircraft maven Cessnateur (seriously, go follow him, he finds stuff I’ve never even heard of!) but I came across this photo that I took at the 2010 Arlington EAA Fly-In.

Searching for the tail number led me down an interesting rabbit hole. Apparently this was the Sea-Era, a one-of-a-kind homebuilt ultralight seaplane built by a fairly prolific Puget Sound native named Paul Weston. By the time this photo was taken in 2010, Mr. Weston had built, crashed, and rebuilt the aircraft once already.

According to news articles online, Mr. Weston would crash the aircraft again in 2013 after taking off in 18-inch swells on Lake Sammamish (Lake Sam to locals). Fortunately, he would walk away from that crash with only a few minor injuries, but apparently the Sea-Era has never flown again. Nor, sadly, are plans available.

I’m pretty sure I took the photo just because the Sea-Era looks cool. It’s got a neat, aerodynamic shape that reminds me more of a hydro racer than a seaplane. That it was a Part 103 legal ultralight makes it even cooler, since that means it could conceivably be operated without the need for any kind of pilot’s license. (I’m not saying that’s a good idea, just that it’s possible).

Here’s hoping that someone will be granted access to the plans again at some point. I suspect that level of fiberglass skill will forever remain beyond my reach, but it’s always fun to dream of backing my own Sea-Era into a local lake while the other boaters look on in confusion as to what I’m dropping into the water.