---
title: ""From Ken Feldman on the issue of the 747: OK people, everyone just…"
date: 2018-09-15
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# "From Ken Feldman on the issue of the 747: OK people, everyone just…

*September 15, 2018 · Facebook*

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[https://www.rgj.com/story/life/arts/burning-man/2018/09/14/747-airplane-burning-man-still-sitting-black-rock-desert/1304974002/](https://www.rgj.com/story/life/arts/burning-man/2018/09/14/747-airplane-burning-man-still-sitting-black-rock-desert/1304974002/){target="_blank"}
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\"From Ken Feldman on the issue of the 747:\
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OK people, everyone just calm down please. I\'m the lead on this project, let me answer some questions, please read them carefully. I just don\'t have time to answer everyones comments:\
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- ABOUT STILL BEING ON THE PLAYA -\
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1. When we brought the plane to the Playa, we were asked by a variety of government agencies to jump through a bunch of hoops . We were inspected by the BLM, the Sheriffs Dept., the DOT, etc. As far as I can tell no mutant vehicle has ever had to go through what we had to do. We were told by the BLM that we would have to get a permit to move the 747 to the land we want to store it at, and they would have to inspect the land. We we\'re told this during build week. Again, no mutant vehicle has EVER had to deal with this.\
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2. We were in the process of getting the location surveyed. The last time it was done was in 1873. Where we thought the property was was actually 1,000 feet off. This required us to change our plans, thus delaying when the property could be prepped. This also changed the permit we were told we had to apply for and the timing for when we could move it. Remember, I am being told we need to get a permit right in the middle of build week.\
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3. It is correct that we cannot build a road to the location where we want to store it, we aren\'t asking to build one. We will be using temporary HDPE crane mats that are used throughout the construction industry when you need to traverse environmentally sensitive areas and leave no trace. No road = no problem.\
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4. Despite what the article says we are working closely with the BLM, we anticipate we will be off the Playa by the end of next week. Everyone please chill out.\
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- REGARDING LETTING PEOPLE ON THE PLANE DURING BURNING MAN -\
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1. We had over 5,000 people come on the plane throughout the week. Five. Thousand. How many other mutant vehicles let 5,000 people enter? None.\
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2. On Monday night we still had construction going on inside and didn\'t feel it was safe to let on lots of people, so we limited access to camp members, performers and a few of their friends.\
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3. We were open almost every other night, and often in the day, though at times we had to limit access when we didn\'t have enough people to watch all the wings, exits, etc. (Most art cars need 1 person at the door, we need 20+ people, and sometimes people get tired.) We were giving tours constantly throughout build week at all times of the day and night.\
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4. On Wednesday we had a volunteer appreciation BBQ dinner that was open to everyone who has helped on the project and friends they wanted to bring. (We sent out invitations. Did you come?)\
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5. On Friday night we had a camp dinner. We physically only have seating inside the plane for our camp mates and a few friends and we just can\'t cook every meal for everyone. We didn\'t have time to take out all the table and benches after so we limited the number of people who could come on board for safety reasons.\
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6. To keep track of our meal plan we give camp members wrist bands. With almost 200 people in the camp this also helps identify each other as not everyone knows everyone else. This has lead to the people to believe we have VIP wrist band policy. We do not.\
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At NO TIME did we VIP our project, ever. We limited access based on safety and capacity, or our camp dinner. Most nights there were huge lines of people waiting to get in, and we did our best to accommodate as many people as we could. Our campmates worked above and beyond the call of duty. The joke around camp was there\'s thing called Burning Man happening, maybe we should go see it. People worked their asses off to let people come on board. If you didn\'t get to come on, sorry, but we did our best.\
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- REGARDING VIP/RICH PEOPLE/BLAH BLAH BLAH -\
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1. We\'ve had over 1,000 people donate to this project, no one is the majority donor, by any stretch.\
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2. Everyone is a volunteer, everyone participates, we are not a turn key camp. People camp with us specifically because we are not a turn key camp, that we require participation, and we treat everyone the same.\
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3. Some people posted about a specific individual. He\'s a member of this camp, came out and worked on the 747 while we were in Mojave, did all of his camp shifts and more. He, like everyone else in this camp, does their shifts. He was coming and going on the plane not because he is VIP, but because he camps with us. That\'s it. We ask that you respect his and everyone else\'s privacy.\
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4. We\'ve got a wide swath of people across every socio-economic status who have helped us. I\'m the lead, and live in a small rent controlled apartment in Venice Beach (thank god for rent control or I\'d have to move), drive a 10 year old car, and basically live pay check to pay check.\
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- FINAL THOUGHTS -\
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I know this is for some people a controversial project, but will you people please lighten up? Maybe you don\'t think it\'s art, that\'s fine, that\'s your opinion, that\'s your right. 500+ people have worked their ass off over 4 years to make this happen. Would you please just consider taking a step back and appreciate their hard work?
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