The 747 airplane from Burning Man is about to move off of public land -- as soon as it gets over one more hurdle: soft playa.
“We’re part way through the move," said Big Imagination Camp CEO Ken Feldman. "Sometimes things take longer than expected. We’re doing our very best. Just trying to get to that final spot.
"We started this, we’re going to finish it," he added.
Almost three weeks after Burning Man 2018, a partially reconstructed 747 that was converted into a nightclub art car was still on the playa due to a series of logistical breakdowns.
But there is a saying at Burning Man that "the playa provides." It means that when someone needs something, the temporary community of 70,000 people mysteriously provides exactly what that person requires to survive.
So, despite widespread condemnation of the situation on social media, volunteers from unconnected camps returned to the Black Rock Desert two hours north of Reno to help drag the multi-ton aircraft off public land and onto a parcel of private land.
“It will get done," said a member of the Distrikt camp who goes by Zikae Hellfire at Burning Man.
Members of the Mayan Temple art car camp flew in from Mexico City, while other members of the Distrikt theme camp drove nine hours from Oregon to help. Members of Sunset Lounge camp also came. Burning Man organization's Department of Public Works took a break from deconstructing the temporary Black Rock City to help also.
“I know it sounds strange to go through that trouble but you start caring for people," Hellfire said. "I would hope if I needed help to get through something people would come."
Volunteers such as Hellfire, who were not part of the original 500 volunteers who built and shipped the airplane onto the playa, helped lay down rubber mats meant to protect the desert floor.
But they ran into a problem Friday afternoon, the day the U.S. Bureau of Land Management required the airplane to be moved. The rubber mats were too thin to hold the airplane.
At the edge of the dry lake bed, the hard-packed desert floor turns into softer, wet sand. The mats collapsed and the front landing gear started to dig in, dropping the airplane into the ground. The team spent several hours digging it out, then used two semi-trucks, a six-wheel drive military truck and Hellfire's pick-up to pull the airplane back onto solid ground.
"And this is another challenge," Feldman said. "It’s taken us four years to get a 747 500 miles across the desert. We’re not going to lose on this last half mile. We’re never walking away."
Feldman expected the move to take six hours, but now realizes it'll take several days.
"We got into a predicament but we were all really determined not to leave the airplane like that," Hellfire said. "Now it’s off that spot."
The volunteers filled the holes in the playa created by the landing gear, flattened the dirt and raked it.
“We’re working toward leaving no trace,” Feldman said.
At the end of the day Friday, Feldman and the volunteers were exhausted. They realized they had to use larger, heavier rubber mats to prevent the airplane from sinking, but that will take longer and require more equipment.
Feldman said he will spend Saturday working with a contractor to rent gear before continuing work on Sunday through early next week.
“This has been maybe one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life," Feldman said. "I really miss my girlfriend. I miss all my friends. And I’m fighting pneumonia. I missed my mom’s birthday. But you know what, sometimes you gotta get ‘er done. You gotta suck it up and do it.”
Big Imagination Camp posted an apology to the community on its website last week during all the uproar.
"We acknowledge that our exodus plan has not gone as expected and we apologize for any undue stress this has caused to the greater burner community, for the Burning Man Org, and especially the BLM with whom we’ve always sought good relations and whom we are working closely with to resolve this situation as rapidly as possible," according to the front page of their website.
Regardless, some people questioned whether the airplane should be allowed back to Burning Man in the future. Burning Man had no comment on any rumors or the 747 situation, though Feldman said the organization has been supportive during all the chaos.
But some people felt otherwise.
While the airplane sat waiting for moving permits from the BLM last week, people tagged it with "S.S. Hubris" and "Ur MOOP as (expletive) yo!" The acronym "MOOP" means "Matter Out Of Place," a moniker for litter on the playa.
Feldman maintains the 747 is not MOOP because Big Imagination always had a plan to move it off public land. But he decided to keep that part of the graffiti for a little tongue-in-cheek humor.
“This is not an invitation to vandalize our property," Feldman said. "We made a conscious decision to leave that on because of the irony."
Dustin Mosher and another pilot found Big Imagination Camp's 747 art car 12 miles north of its former location during Burning Man 2018. Video and photos by Dustin Mosher @flyingfiddler. Mike Higdon/RGJ
Mike Higdon is the city life reporter and temporary Burning Man 2018 reporter, at the RGJ and can be found on Instagram @MillennialMike, on Facebook at Mike Higdon, Reno Life and on Twitter @MikeHigdon.
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