My last cross country flight - General

I'm no photographer, so allow me to apologize in advance for any novice cameraman mistakes. Some of the following photographs may have a shadow or glare from the windows of my plane, but kindly keep in mind that I have no experience with cameras, and that these pictures were mostly taken while my eyes were fixed securely to my instrument panel while shooting them, lest I accidentally roll the plane upside down and die while trying to take pictures. I don't normally take a camera with me when I fly, but this was a special occasion for me; my last cross country flight. I'm leaving for basic training (US Army) on Tuesday, so I took this last flight with a heavy heart. The wind was completely still at 3000 feet as a large storm cloud rolled in slowly far above me. Disobeying common sense and federal flight regulations, I flew close to some of the lower, non-stormy clouds and enjoyed the view. It was quite pretty. Unfortunately, pictures alone can't convey what I felt or saw, but hopefully they'll give you a rough idea. I'll be taking the test to receive my license on Sunday, if anybody has any questions about flight regulations, the principles of flight, or the anatomy of an airplane, please ask me. I need to study a lot, and if you guys are asking me questions about flying it's easier to justify pissing about on Facepunch. Images media tagged due to largeness. [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/10e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/1e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/2e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/3e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/4e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/5e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/6e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/7e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/8e.jpg[/media] [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/Flight/9e.jpg[/media] I sorely wish I had more time. As much fun as flying giant, invisible, flying robots with missiles is going to be in the Army, I'll miss being able to plan a quick trot North and hopping in my Cessna for a serene, lonely flight above the country.

Crazy! Awesome! You gonna be a jet pilot?

[QUOTE=Wu-Zi-Mu;16801691]Crazy! Awesome! You gonna be a jet pilot?[/QUOTE] Nope, I get to pilot giant invisible flying robots with missiles. [media]http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5047/070931m5827m020xh5.jpg[/media] Edit Bah, huge picture.

Flying drones? Fucking sweet.

Isn't flying from a computer on the ground going to take a lot of the fun and magic out of flight?

Looks like Yorkshire, but flat...

[QUOTE=Dasutin;16802154]Isn't flying from a computer on the ground going to take a lot of the fun and magic out of flight?[/QUOTE] That's what the missiles are for.

[QUOTE=Dasutin;16802154]Isn't flying from a computer on the ground going to take a lot of the fun and magic out of flight?[/QUOTE] Actually it's a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator]massive franchise[/url]. But in reality. Yes.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;16801752]Nope, I get to pilot giant invisible flying robots with missiles. Edit Bah, huge picture.[/QUOTE] Man, thats crazy awesome! All the firing missiles and awesome shit but no chance of dying? Best Army job ever.

I love taking pictures from planes

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;16801752]Nope, I get to pilot giant invisible flying robots with missiles. [media]http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5047/070931m5827m020xh5.jpg[/media] Edit Bah, huge picture.[/QUOTE] those would look a lot cooler if they put a window decal on the front in my opinion. and you own a cesna? how much are those?

[QUOTE=K2cougar;16820895]those would look a lot cooler if they put a window decal on the front in my opinion. and you own a cesna? how much are those?[/QUOTE] I don't own it, I rent it from the local airfield. I always rent the same one, and have been flying it almost exclusively since I began. I have bonded with my plane. It ain't cheap, but it's been well worth all the incredibly hard work it's taken to continue flying. Flight lessons were about $140 per hour of flight with an instructor, but the price dropped considerably after I was okayed to solo. I now have to pay about $100 an hour to rent the plane, but that includes all fuel costs (and I am reimbursed if I need to refill), and the rental fee is only applied if the engine is running. I could fly sixty miles out in about half an hour, stay the weekend, and come back for a single hour of rental pricing. Not too bad. Also, why would I want a Windows decal on the front of my robot? That would look silly. [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/MicrosoftUAV.jpg[/media] [QUOTE=Wu-Zi-Mu;16818695]Man, thats crazy awesome! All the firing missiles and awesome shit but no chance of dying? Best Army job ever.[/QUOTE] I could choke on a donut or something.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;16827891]I don't own it, I rent it from the local airfield. I always rent the same one, and have been flying it almost exclusively since I began. I have bonded with my plane. It ain't cheap, but it's been well worth all the incredibly hard work it's taken to continue flying. Flight lessons were about $140 per hour of flight with an instructor, but the price dropped considerably after I was okayed to solo. I now have to pay about $100 an hour to rent the plane, but that includes all fuel costs (and I am reimbursed if I need to refill), and the rental fee is only applied if the engine is running. I could fly sixty miles out in about half an hour, stay the weekend, and come back for a single hour of rental pricing. Not too bad. Also, why would I want a Windows decal on the front of my robot? That would look silly. [media]http://usera.ImageCave.com/ZFS_Cartographer/MicrosoftUAV.jpg[/media][/QUOTE] I think he means a fake cockpit.

[QUOTE=Kaliber;16827976]I think he means a fake cockpit.[/QUOTE] no i meant microsoft. [editline]08:48AM[/editline] and thats awesome with the 60 miles weekend thing, i would use that a lot.

Offtopic: How many hours you log before you were started Soloing? Ontopic: Pictures make me want to head to my airport now and fly again.

You can see the curvature of the earth in a few of them, they're awesome pictures.

lil redundant.

Pretty good, I hate the reflections D: What camera? Does not look to clear, maybe even a bit grainy, high ISO? high shutter speed?

:O I wanna fly

[QUOTE=dtoporowski;16867827]Pretty good, I hate the reflections D: What camera? Does not look to clear, maybe even a bit grainy, high ISO? high shutter speed?[/QUOTE] The atmosphere does things to long distance visuals at that altitude.