66 Votes (4.58 Average) and 36,510 Views  

Airbus A320neo (N316FR) - Frontier's "Shelly the Sea Turtle" (N316FR) is snapped here in an extremely rare capture; a view of a commercial passenger jet taking off toward the camera's position with Slide Mountain in the background. This unusual photo was actually "caused" by the COVID virus -- because the Frontier jet was almost completely empty, its lack of weight allowed it to rotate less than 3000 feet down runway 34L and climb so rapidly that it was high enough that Slide Mountain could be seen and photographed in the background. Most pictures that show Mt Rose and Slide Mountain are one of two types: they show aircraft on short final approaches as they are about to land on either 34L or 34R ... or .. they are photos showing jet airliners from the rear view angle as they are climbing after taking off from runways 16R or 16L. This "head-on' view of a commercial pax aircraft departing Reno with Slide in the background is only possible if the departing airliner rotates quickly and climbs rapidly, as the nearly empty Shelly did here.
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Airbus A320neo (N316FR)

Submitted

Frontier's "Shelly the Sea Turtle" (N316FR) is snapped here in an extremely rare capture; a view of a commercial passenger jet taking off toward the camera's position with Slide Mountain in the background. This unusual photo was actually "caused" by the COVID virus -- because the Frontier jet was almost completely empty, its lack of weight allowed it to rotate less than 3000 feet down runway 34L and climb so rapidly that it was high enough that Slide Mountain could be seen and photographed in the background. Most pictures that show Mt Rose and Slide Mountain are one of two types: they show aircraft on short final approaches as they are about to land on either 34L or 34R ... or .. they are photos showing jet airliners from the rear view angle as they are climbing after taking off from runways 16R or 16L. This "head-on' view of a commercial pax aircraft departing Reno with Slide in the background is only possible if the departing airliner rotates quickly and climbs rapidly, as the nearly empty Shelly did here.

Comments

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Gary SchenauerPhoto Uploader
There was one additional factor that made this photo possible. The thinner air at RNO usually means that departing commercial aircraft must make longer takeoff rolls in order to rotate and get airborne, so even though this FFT was nowhere near as heavy as it normally would have been, it still would have had to stay on the runway to get up to Vr speed. However, the wind was blowing so intensely directly toward aircraft departing on the 34s that this Frontier obtained added lift so as soon as it came off 34L it climbed very rapidly and from my location the snow-capped mountains came into view behind it.
trembo A
awesome capture!
Gavin Hughes
Great capture Gary. From your comprehensive comment it seems all things came together but if you don't add skill, you get zilch or poor. Neither of the latter apply here.
Darryl Sarno
Great shot Gary!
Tom Vance
I see G-man is out dusting us off the charts again....you forgot to add " extremely rare",,,I've never seen a photo of Slide Mtn in this type of view from RNO! 5 Sliders and Calendar shot!
ken kemper
Great Capture Gary............

Interesting add on about how the pic was "made".
JM32
WOW !! I mean really WOW. This is an awesome picture. Well done Gary. 3 thumbs up
Dale Docken
Totally magnificent, Gary!!
Qatar123
Awesome shot Gary!
ACTIVITY LOG
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Date Aircraft Origin Destination Departure Arrival Duration
22-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 09:58AM MDT 01:10PM CDT Scheduled
22-Mar-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:55AM CDT 08:38AM MDT Scheduled
21-Mar-2025 A20NSalt Lake City Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 05:29PM MDT 09:05PM CDT Scheduled
21-Mar-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Salt Lake City Intl () 01:49PM CDT 03:39PM MDT Scheduled
21-Mar-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 09:55AM EDT 11:15AM CDT Scheduled
21-Mar-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Tampa Intl () 05:30AM CDT 09:14AM EDT Scheduled
20-Mar-2025 A20NAustin-Bergstrom Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 02:14PM CDT 04:27PM CDT 2:13
20-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Austin-Bergstrom Intl () 10:01AM MDT 12:51PM CDT 1:49
20-Mar-2025 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Denver Intl () 06:14AM CDT 07:23AM MDT 2:09
19-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Houston Bush Int'ctl () 09:07PM MDT 11:56PM CDT 1:48
19-Mar-2025 A20NCancun Int'l ()Denver Intl () 02:57PM EST 05:47PM MDT 3:50
19-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Cancun Int'l () 08:59AM MDT 01:20PM EST 3:20
19-Mar-2025 A20NMinneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:09AM CDT 06:49AM MDT 1:39
18-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 09:20PM MDT 11:43PM CDT 1:22
18-Mar-2025 A20NReagan National ()Denver Intl () 01:15PM EDT 03:13PM MDT 3:57
18-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Reagan National () 06:53AM MDT 11:43AM EDT 2:49
17-Mar-2025 A20NPhoenix Sky Harbor Intl ()Denver Intl () 07:20PM MST 09:35PM MDT 1:15
17-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl () 05:09PM MDT 05:50PM MST 1:41
17-Mar-2025 A20NJoe Foss Fld ()Denver Intl () 03:10PM CDT 03:31PM MDT 1:20
17-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Joe Foss Fld () 11:44AM MDT 01:49PM CDT 1:05
17-Mar-2025 A20NMiami Intl ()Denver Intl () 08:04AM EDT 10:23AM MDT 4:18
17-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Miami Intl () 01:11AM MDT 06:20AM EDT 3:09
16-Mar-2025 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Denver Intl () 10:21PM CDT 11:33PM MDT 2:11
16-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Houston Bush Int'ctl () 05:59PM MDT 08:40PM CDT 1:41
16-Mar-2025 A20NSacramento Intl ()Denver Intl () 01:36PM PDT 04:20PM MDT 1:44
16-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Sacramento Intl () 11:01AM MDT 12:23PM PDT 2:22
16-Mar-2025 A20NReagan National ()Denver Intl () 07:11AM EDT 08:25AM MDT 3:13
15-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Reagan National () 05:11PM MDT 10:14PM EDT 3:03
15-Mar-2025 A20NJohn Wayne ()Denver Intl () 12:44PM PDT 03:35PM MDT 1:50
15-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()John Wayne () 10:42AM MDT 11:40AM PDT 1:58
15-Mar-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Denver Intl () 07:05AM CDT 08:04AM MDT 1:58
14-Mar-2025 A20NSarasota/Bradenton Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 09:38PM EDT 11:06PM CDT 2:28
14-Mar-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Sarasota/Bradenton Intl () 05:19PM CDT 08:37PM EDT 2:18
14-Mar-2025 A20NNashville Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 02:19PM CDT 03:31PM CDT 1:11
14-Mar-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Nashville Intl () 09:37AM MDT 12:40PM CDT 2:03
14-Mar-2025 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:40AM EDT 08:22AM MDT 3:41
13-Mar-2025 A20NNew Orleans Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 06:18PM CDT 09:33PM EDT 2:15
13-Mar-2025 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()New Orleans Intl () 02:55PM EDT 04:26PM CDT 2:30
13-Mar-2025 A20NMiami Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 10:28AM EDT 12:51PM EDT 2:22
13-Mar-2025 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()Miami Intl () 06:14AM EDT 08:40AM EDT 2:25
12-Mar-2025 A20NPalm Beach Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 08:59PM EDT 11:14PM EDT 2:15
12-Mar-2025 A20NTrenton Mercer ()Palm Beach Intl () 05:25PM EDT 07:48PM EDT 2:23
12-Mar-2025 A20NPalm Beach Intl ()Trenton Mercer () 01:19PM EDT 03:30PM EDT 2:11
12-Mar-2025 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()Palm Beach Intl () 09:42AM EDT 11:47AM EDT 2:05
11-Mar-2025 A20NMiami Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 09:10AM EDT 11:41AM EDT 2:31
10-Mar-2025 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Miami Intl () 09:31PM AST 12:00AM EDT (+1) 2:28
10-Mar-2025 A20NPunta Cana Int'l ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 07:00PM AST 07:30PM AST 0:29
10-Mar-2025 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Punta Cana Int'l () 04:32PM AST 05:07PM AST 0:34
10-Mar-2025 A20NFort Lauderdale Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 10:17AM EDT 12:25PM AST 2:08
10-Mar-2025 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Fort Lauderdale Intl () 05:59AM AST 08:23AM EDT 2:24
09-Mar-2025 A20NBradley Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 10:08PM EDT 02:15AM AST (+1) 4:06
09-Mar-2025 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Bradley Intl () 04:36PM AST 08:43PM EDT 4:06
09-Mar-2025 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 11:45AM EDT 02:41PM AST 2:55
09-Mar-2025 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 06:14AM AST 09:45AM EDT 3:30
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