A look at the smoky skies over northwestern Colorado, before dusk. In Steamboat Springs, we have been surrounded by TFRs on all sides due to wild fires. While much of the time our aerial views are obscured to just a gray haze, there are magic moments when nature plays with light and color, due to the smoke.
Seaplanes are as much a part of everyday life in Alaska as pickup trucks are in Texas. Whether ferrying essential supplies or transporting passengers on a memorable trip, they keep things moving the Last Frontier. Craig Bixby captures this spirit in his beautiful Friday Photo, which shows a Male on floats tied up to shore after a long day flying hunters.
You’ve probably seen the ads for Pure Michigan, promoting the state’s natural beauty. That’s what came to mind for Tim Crawford after taking this shot. He stopped to capture the moment after a Father’s Day flight, with his Diamond DA40 in the foreground and the setting sun lighting up the background.
Sunrise is a magical time, but that’s especially true at an airport in the fall. Doran Jaffas perfectly captures the peaceful and enchanting scene in this photo. His Wittman W-8 Tailwind sits ready to go, as the morning fog begins to burn off. The only reaction is, “let’s go flying!”
Cruising along at 8500 feet in his Tecnam P2008, Mike Hackney captured this beautiful and slightly strange photo. As he says, “The optical illusion was of a lake covered by a sheet of ice, and the cloud tops emerging. This went on for an hour of flight time. Simply beautiful.”
The view from the cockpit of a TBM 910 as it cruises along in the flight levels is usually pretty good, but sometimes it’s great. Omar Haedo captured one of these unique views as he flew home to Miami, with the sun reflecting off the Caribbean Sea and the cumulus clouds building over the Dominican Republic.
The X3 was unusual from many different perspectives, not the least of which being the addition of a pair of stub wings with tractor propellers at their tips. The propellers, though appearing to have their own powerplants, were actually driven by the engines that drove the main rotor.
The Pipistrel Sinus motorglider is all about fun flying, and that’s what Todd Tracy captures in this Friday Photo. His wingtip-mounted GoPro camera shows him soaring over the Everglades in Florida, with a typical summertime rain shower making itself known in the background.
Returning east at 11,000 feet from Saint Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, to Asheville, North Carolina, on an Angel Flight mission. Major thunderstorm activity over Knoxville. ATC queried me, “Do you want to divert north or south? Suggest south.” Good choice.
Sometimes you’re so busy flying that you forget to take a photo until after you’ve landed. That’s what Tom Kingston shares in this Friday Photo, but what a great way to remember a flight—a beautiful sunset in the western sky serves as a colorful reminder of a great flight in his Cessna 172.
As partners sharing ownership of a Nanchang CJ-6A and four and a half years and many hours of fun and adventure in the Decathlon, it was our last flight as co-owners. My longtime friend, who took this shot, had lost his medical due to a stroke.
Just another day in the Southern Utah paradise. My buddy always says “if there’s a bump in the world, this is where you’ll find it” but this day, the air was smooth as glass.
Birds of a feather flock together, and you really notice it when the airplane has such a unique silhouette. Chris Priaulx saw these two airplanes on the ramp at Wendover, Utah (ENV) some years back, parked in their unique, nose-down position.
The mission on this day was to get out of the house (pandemic blues) and shoot some practice instrument approaches in typical August hot, humid southeastern Virginia weather. The pilots were rewarded with an interesting sight, as a US Navy ship was passing through the York River Coleman Bridge.
I took an early morning summer flight across the Cascades in Oregon on a perfect morning. Unlimited visibility, no wind, an almost eerie lack of any sign of civilization. As I neared the middle of the mountain range, I saw this stunning lineup of (from the left) Mt. Jefferson, Three-Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, and two of the Three Sisters. A timeless moment that signals the best of the flying experience.
Early morning always reminds me of a fresh start, a new day, and a chance to learn and gain experience(s) as a pilot. While crawling out of bed seems less than desirable at 0500, views like this are rare, priceless, and worth every effort to capture aviation moments in time like this.
We cancelled IFR west of Boca Raton and descended VFR with flight following to fly the east coast line down to the Keys and out to Marathon. ATC was unbelievable! I was handed off to FLL tower to facilitate flying through their airspace. Traffic was not bad and ADS-B In made others easy to find. Great views the whole way! Just beautiful…
Sunsets are spectacular anytime airplanes are involved, and this Friday Photo proves that you don’t even have to be flying for that to be true. Kent Meyer took this gorgeous photo as the sun set over his Challenger 350, on the ramp at Inverness, Florida. It’s enough to make you want to drive to the airport and go chase the sun.
Puget Sound in Washington is an ideal place for a general aviation airplane. The distances are short, but roads are few, so a quick flight can take you a world away from the busy streets of Seattle. In this picture from Kevin Knight, Mother Nature gets an assist, as the sun breaks through a broken layer of clouds, highlighting the water below.
Harvey Swift sums it up well: “As a captain on the 737, I get to see many great sights. I managed to get a good one here.” His breathtaking photo is a reminder of how beautiful—and dangerous—Mother Nature can be.