Tag Archives: geology

Helicopter Flight: Central Washington Geology Tour, Part 1

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A cockpit POV video from the FlyingMAir YouTube Channel.

COME FLY WITH ME as I take Central Washington University geology professor and star of “Nick on the Rocks” Nick Zentner on a helicopter tour of the area between his home in Ellensburg, WA and the Mission Ridge area of Wenatchee with a focus on geology. We’re just getting to know each other in this video but there’s plenty of scenery and geology to talk about. Nick talks about the geology of Naneum Canyon, which we fly along the edge of, and some basalt formations he’s never seen. He also points out the Malaga Slide, which I knew absolutely nothing about. This is part 1 of a multi-part series; I’m trying to keep them short and sweet.

By the way, my reference early in the video to Nick being a “big boy” is due to the fact that he’s 6’6″ tall (!) and weighs over 250 pounds. He barely fits in the passenger seat; his head is up in the overhead window there! I really felt the heavier weight on his side of the helicopter when I picked it up into a hover and that made me laugh.

Some videos referenced in this video:

Points of Interest Discussed:

About Me and the Helicopter

  • I have been flying for about 20 years. My nearly 4,000 hours of flight time is in Robinson R44, Robinson R22, and Bell 206L (Long Ranger) helicopters.
  • The helicopter is a 2005 Robinson R44 Raven II — the same one that appears in the photo at the beginning of the video. You can learn more about them here: https://robinsonheli.com/r44-specifications/ I own this helicopter. It is the third helicopter I’ve owned since 2000.
  • My helicopter has ADS-B Out and is picked up by radar facilities. You can see my track for recent flights on Flightradar24: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n7534D This is a great site for tracking any almost any flight, including the airlines.

About Nick Zentner

About the Video

I try to drop cockpit POV videos every Sunday morning and “extras” with more info about owning and operating a helicopter midweek. (Some channel members get early access to some of these videos.) I also host occasional livestreams with Q&A chats. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything new! And tell your friends. The more subscribers I have, the more motivated I am to keep producing videos like this one.

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Polished Stones from Slabs

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More polished stones. (Yes, I’m addicted.)

I just wanted to take a moment to share two photos of stones I polished into cabochons posed right beside the slabs I cut them from.

Wild Horse Picture Jasper
Wild Horse Picture Jasper.

Ahwanee Jasper.
Ahwanee Jasper. I have two slabs and I made two cuts with my tile saw to remove a portion of one slab for this cabochon.

A slab, in case you’re wondering, is a slice of a rock. These were thin — about 1/8 inch. I prefer them thicker — maybe 1/4 to 3/8 inch — so I can get taller, more rounded cabochons. You need a slab saw — a large saw capable of cutting through stone — to make slabs. I don’t have one but I have a friend who does. He’s been cutting slabs from local obsidian and petrified wood that I gave him in exchange for jewelry-making classes for his family. I’ll show off finished cabochons from that soon.

These finished stones and remaining slabs are for sale. I’ll be adding them to my ML Jewelry Designs website and its online store soon. I just need to get better photos of them.

A Marketing Moral Dilemma

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Any advice?

K2 Wrapped in Sterling Silver
A K2 cabochon wrapped as a pendant in sterling silver.

Labradorite
A labradorite cabochon wrapped as a pendant in sterling silver.

Yellow Feather Jasper
A yellow feather jasper cabochon wrapped as a pendant in antiqued copper.

I’m in a bit of a moral dilemma.

To increase the marketability of the semiprecious gemstones I’ve been turning into jewelry, I need to include details about the stone in each piece.

I have no problem writing up the geophysical aspects of the stone, but I’ve been advised by other jewelry makers to include metaphysical aspects, too. And that’s the problem: I don’t believe in any of the purported metaphysical benefits of rocks.

The trouble is, although the stones I’ve been wrapping are attractive pieces of jewelry in their own right (if I do say so myself), many of the people who would consider wearing stones as jewelry do so because they believe in the metaphysical properties of the stones they wear.

Although true believers know what stones they want, borderline believers might not. If I include the “fact” that moss agate, for example, aids in childbirth, I could help convince a pregnant woman to buy a piece of jewelry that includes a piece of moss agate. It certainly wouldn’t hurt her in any way, but I don’t believe it would help her, either.

The moral dilemma is that I believe that including such information is misleading a potential buyer. But what if the buyer expects such information? And if the information is widely available and easily confirmed, why shouldn’t I include it if it could help sales?

Any advice?