Eric and I flew with our friend Gary in his Bonanza to Santa Paula airport and back today. In this shot we’re about a half hour out of Palo Alto airport heading south. Eric got to take the yoke and fly for awhile. He was already planning to get his pilots license soon after college, and this just nailed it.

Same plane as this shot.

I was standing in the Hertz car return lot at LAX this morning enjoying being right under final approach. The sun was in the perfect position to cast the landing planes’ shadows right down on us. There was only about a three foot lateral variation in where each plane shadow was, it’s amazing how accurate these guys are lining up on the runway. Over the 20 minutes I stood there taking pictures the sun moved and the shadows slowly worked their way across the lot.

I asked our pilot later, and the landing speed of a 737 is about 150mph, so these shadows are going about that speed, or 220 feet per second. Good thing my Canon 40D can shoot at 6.5fps!

I guess every KAP flight isn’t successful. Eric and I tried, but the wind wasn’t quite strong or steady enough to keep the camera aloft. We got some great macros of the grass, though.

Some days are really beautiful, and you just have to get out and enjoy them.

I made a roundtrip to LA today. The top photo is heading south at 6:50am, the bottom photo is heading north at 7:50pm.

I’ve never really understood why the light is so different for sunrise vs. sunset. I imagine it has to do with cool air warming up vs. warm air cooling down, or something like that. Each has its own wonderful quality.

Taking off at Chicago Midway airport. As we started charging down the runway I saw that I might get a view like this, so I scrambled to get my camera out in time. Just made it.

36°37’19.53″N 121°38’44.56″W
The Blue Angels were performing at the Salinas Air Show. We weren’t there, but were close enough to get a few dramatic fly-overs.

34° 1’53.16″N 118°13’36.24″W
Flying into LA for a meeting. A bit different from the air quality in LA when I was growing up.

(Within about a mile) 37°21’27.03″N 121° 5’2.24″W Altitude: 10,000ft.
Flying to LA with a friend in his Bonanza.