The Aerial Horizon
Forget where your feet are and simply enjoy the view.
An amazing visual sensation comes over us as we gaze out the cockpit window on a landscape from another world… Canyonlands National Park in Utah presents such a visual sensation with every mile, constantly changing and amazing as our perspective changes with the growing shadows. Shafer Basin salt evaporation pools adds an incongruous splash of aqua to the scene.
Our flight plans sometimes seem like metaphors for life’s journey. On a hazy cloudy day, it may be difficult to tell where we are or where we are going and the trip can be fatiguing…until unexpected turbulence wakes our senses and forces us to change our path. But on a clear day our view of the world sparks our imagination and yearning for discovery of new paths. One such path leads down the road from Winslow, Arizona and winds toward the bottom of Barrington Meteor Crater.
Remembering the old story of the boy who tells the Captain, “I want to be a pilot when I grow up.” And the Captain’s thoughtful answer, “You can’t do both.” With the imagination of a child, we see something interesting in every cloud and every landscape. Out of this growing cumulonimbus cloud, an elephant comes to life.
As we cross the Manzano Mountains southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, well ordered circular fields give way to a field of irregular pools. Laguna del Perro is a system of dunes, beaches, and pools whose white, red and aqua colors stand out in contrast to the somber green, ocher and sienna colors of the surrounding landscape.
South of the Laguna Indian Reservation, Mesa Carrizo’s smooth top and distinct outline stand out above the rocky terrain. This mesa stands over 6000 feet above sea level. One may imagine this as a place of calm surrounded by a sea of violent geological activity in a more tempestuous time in the earth’s history.
When the earth is obscured from our view aloft, the landscape is like a mystery to be revealed as we descend through the clouds. Crossing the White Hills of Arizona, the solid ridge of Senator Mountain emerges from the mist and Lake Meade slowly comes into view beyond.
As we take in the horizon over the Mojave Desert, it resembles another world with its barren expanse of rock and sand. A singular trace of man’s presence can be seen in the closely spaced rectangular salt evaporators in the Bristol Dry Lake bed east of Twentynine Palms, California.
Dreamlike reflections of clouds on the surface of Abiquiu Lake reservoir add another dimension to the landscape defined by the streams of colored ridges that trace the edge of Mesa de Los Viejos, New Mexico.
A summer morning view up the Potomac River from Mockley Point to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Our perspective of the terrain flattens as our course stretches to the horizon, distance and topography morph with changes in altitude.
Dawn’s light is a welcome sign at the and of any all-nighter as it signals the trip’s end. Passing Morgantown, West Virginia the comfort of the dawn collides with the exhilaration of a thunderstorm making for lively arrival.
Clouds begin to gather over the Painted Desert allowing only a fleeting view of the colorful earth below. A wide array of natural colors create patterns on the desert floor and along exposed ridges.
The clouds are awe inspiring as they create a dark and ominous presence along our route of flight. A jet deviates around the intense weather as if following a path drawn by rays of sunlight streaming through the mist that obscures the horizon. Summer flying on the Atlantic Coast requires a heads up awareness of the weather and the wisdom to avoid it.
Old school flight simulator, on display at the flight academy.
Sometimes it’s good to take our eyes off the horizon and get back in the simulator for training. This old school simulator mock-up demonstrates how far we have come. The simulators today can provide training in almost any environment with any and all malfunctions.
Morning on the Mississippi Delta. The soft orange lights of morning rapidly transition to bright white haze as we cross the Delta.
The aerial perspective reveals patterns in the landscape unseen by those on earth. A winding river in the midwest appears like the figure of a serpent, its head defined by the river’s tributaries as if carved by some ancient native.
Illuminated showers align in the early evening sunlight over Florida’s lakes. The glowing streams of water wave and swirl as the clouds’ potential is released back to earth.
Synchronized purpose and actions. Many of us grew up in an environment where we had to place our ultimate trust in the skill and ability of the pilot sitting twenty feet away from us while we executed our missions. While our environment may have changed, we bring that “old school” training and spirit of mission accomplishment to the airways. Let’s go fly.
Sometimes we are caught in the band between night and day. Flying in the twilight, the pilot’s view of a distant sunset offers the final human reflection on the fading day. Flying the night shift has its reward.
Looking away from the sun and our intended path of flight yields a small surprise sitting off the wing. A rainshower off shore catches the setting sun and the falling water refracts the light in a rainbow as if propelling the light toward the sea.
Afternoon rainshowers linger north of Miami on a summer afternoon. The water falls to the earth in vacillating waves tethering the clouds to the landscape.
The Aerial Horizon – Photography
The Aerial Horizon 