Friday Photo: CJ sunset

Sunsets are always a favorite view for pilots, but sometimes the conditions are just right. In this beautiful Friday Photo, Phelps Lane shares a photo from the left seat of a Cessna Citation CJ1+ as he descended over New Orleans. The lights are glowing in the distance, the black sky fades to blue, then orange, then red—and you can almost see the curvature of the earth.

Friday Photo: Gulfstream HUD

The views over Alaska are always epic, but that's especially true if you're looking through a heads-up display (HUD) in a Gulfstream G650ER. That's the picture Brendan Donovan shares this week, cruising home at FL450 on his way back from China.

Friday Photo: Meridian sunrise

Sunrise departure on a volunteer Angel Flight mission to help someone from Bangor, Maine, avoid the 8-hour round trip drive to Boston and get to a mid-morning medical appointment. There is no flying that I do that is more rewarding than providing a little hope to people by helping them get to medical treatment.

Friday Photo: sunrise on a grass strip

An enjoyable weekend of flying and a night of camping. First leg was on Saturday, DTN to TXK (1.3 hours for a 56 nautical mile trip!) for a fly-in hosted by EAA Chapter 1582. Left there and headed for 01TS, with a fuel stop at F44. I caught the last hour of a fly-in at 01TS, complete with burgers, ice cream, and some good people. The owner welcomed me to camp out under a big oak tree.

Friday Photo: sunset under the clouds

Descending into Medellin, Colombia, in his Cessna Skywagon, Santiago Rendón snapped this artistic picture of the Cerro Tusa mountain peak. As he says, "Mountains, clouds, and sunset light produces a mixture of feelings that explains why you love to fly!"

Friday Photo: something looks wrong

We were flying home to Springfield, MO, from Flying Cloud in Minneapolis. I was bringing my son (an airline pilot) and his family home for Thanksgiving on a bitterly cold Thanksgiving Day. Our Cessna 414 brought us home without incident, but it was a costly trip (the turbocharger went to lunch without us, and my son couldn't resist a snapshot).

Friday Photo: Bronco at daybreak

While flying with the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron on one summer day, I had the first takeoff from our Forward Operating Location at Ubon Airbase in Thailand. My roommate had taken off a few minutes behind me and we were both headed south. I slowed down and suggested that he speed up to catch me so I could take his picture using my trusty 35mm. In a few minutes, Pat was flying off my left wing.
Wing view

Friday photo: a freight pilot’s view

You sit in one position in one chair for over three hours. You stare at electro-mechanical needles and dials for those same three+ hours, eyes darting from one to another quickly because you have no autopilot. Occasionally, you turn your head away from your only links to survival, your instruments, and consider with much respect your wings and engines.

Friday Photo: Miami Beach

I just received my private pilot certificate in Michigan in November. I checked out a plane on a much needed break at a Miami airport in December and planned a day trip to Key West for lunch, following the road all the way. Cruise ships were parked at sea but the view and thrill of piloting your own airplane was beautifully amazing!

Friday Photo: landing at 9000 feet

The airstrip at Jomsom is 9000 feet AMSL, situated in the midwest part of Nepal and north of the Mt. Annapurna and Mt. Dhaulagiri ranges. Later I flew many times between 25,000 and 30,000 feet on photography flights and search mission over Mount Everest and Mount Kanchanjunga.

Friday Photo: Archer sunrise

Fred Pond was flying his Piper Archer, picking up 16 cases of PPE equipment in Indiana and taking it to Pennsylvania as a Compassion Flight for LifeLine Pilots and Angel Flight, when he snapped this beautiful photo. As he says, "I am thankful for the opportunity to belong to a group like LifeLine Pilots. General aviation plays a huge role in disaster relief around the world."

Friday Photo: Colombian rainbow

"Sometimes the combination of mountains and tropical weather brings you the opportunity to witness beautiful views, even when you are on long final," says Santiago Arbelaez. That's certainly true of this beautiful Friday Photo, which shows a rainbow just under the wing of his Cessna 185.

Friday Photo: sunrise over the St. John’s River

George Currie took this photo of sunrise over the St. John's River and Jacksonville, Florida, looking east toward the Atlantic Ocean, from his 1977 Piper Cherokee Warrior II. His mission was to start the day early with some socially distanced fun and adventure, before this typically crowded airspace gets busy.

Friday Photo: golf and flying

In the old days at Shelter Cove, you could golf all day for $10 on the course that was all around the runway, then enjoy the ocean, some good food, and lodging.

Friday Photo: the fog rolls into Chicago

April 1, 2020. The fog rolls in off Lake Michigan... Normally a bustling metropolis, this evening finds Chicago’s streets deserted as the reality of COVID-19, like the fog itself, begins to shroud the city.

Friday Photo: logging some actual

Flying in actual IMC is an invaluable experience for any pilot and even more so for one training for the next level certification. We knew there would be good IMC opportunity (without icing or convection) on this day for some valuable flying time. We took off early morning, climbed above the first layer and found a nice area for this picture.
Sunset

Friday Photo: Sunset takeoff

Airports around sunset are beautiful places to just sit and watch the world go by. Alan Connor snapped this photo of just that moment, as a tailwheel airplane lifts off, rising above a setting sun. It almost looks as if the airplane has a spotlight on it.

Friday Photo: sunset from FL 380

A sunset between layers, flying southwest between two of the most well known tourist destinations in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Foz do Iguaçú, home of our share of the amazing Iguazu Falls, on the triple border with Argentina and Paraguay.

Friday Photo: over the moon

Our local EAA chapter had a late afternoon picnic right at sunset at Ovid, NY (D82) – also known as “Ovid International.” Waldo was kind enough to take a number of members up in his beautiful Cub on an absolutely perfect autumn evening.

Friday Photo: sunrise at Monument Valley

After four days of touring the canyons of the West, I was looking at nearly 10 hours of flying time to get home. I checked out of the hotel early and walked across the street to the airstrip, watching the horizon slowly brighten. At exactly sunrise, I took off and grabbed a couple of “secondary sunrises” of the big, red fireball cresting the mesa. Made it home just before sunset!