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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)

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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
12-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()Reagan National () 04:48PM MDT 09:49PM EDT Scheduled
12-Mar-2026 A20NJohn Wayne ()Denver Intl () 12:22PM PDT 03:25PM MDT Scheduled
12-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()John Wayne () 09:56AM MDT 10:50AM PDT Scheduled
12-Mar-2026 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Denver Intl () 06:51AM CDT 07:47AM MDT Scheduled
11-Mar-2026 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Houston Bush Int'ctl () 09:31PM EDT 10:48PM CDT Scheduled
11-Mar-2026 A20NPunta Cana Int'l ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 04:11PM AST 08:01PM EDT Scheduled
11-Mar-2026 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Punta Cana Int'l () 11:54AM EDT 02:50PM AST En Route
10-Mar-2026 A20NTampa Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 10:10PM EDT 11:22PM EDT 1:11
10-Mar-2026 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Tampa Intl () 07:40PM EDT 08:41PM EDT 1:00
10-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 01:10PM MDT 05:30PM EDT 2:20
10-Mar-2026 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Denver Intl () 10:38AM EDT 11:27AM MDT 2:48
10-Mar-2026 A20NNewark Liberty Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 06:04AM EDT 07:50AM EDT 1:45
10-Mar-2026 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Newark Liberty Intl () 01:36AM EDT 03:12AM EDT 1:36
09-Mar-2026 A20NOrlando Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 07:55PM EDT 08:58PM EDT 1:02
09-Mar-2026 A20NRaleigh-Durham Intl ()Orlando Intl () 04:38PM EDT 05:52PM EDT 1:13
09-Mar-2026 A20NOrlando Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 01:50PM EDT 03:09PM EDT 1:18
09-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()Orlando Intl () 07:15AM MDT 12:16PM EDT 3:01
08-Mar-2026 A20NLos Angeles Intl ()Denver Intl () 09:10PM PDT 12:09AM MDT (+1) 1:58
08-Mar-2026 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Los Angeles Intl () 06:28PM CDT 07:37PM PDT 3:08
08-Mar-2026 A20NLos Angeles Intl ()Houston Bush Int'ctl () 11:52AM PDT 04:50PM CDT 2:58
08-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()Los Angeles Intl () 09:15AM MDT 10:00AM PDT 1:45
07-Mar-2026 A20NSan Diego Intl ()Denver Intl () 09:19PM PST 12:35AM MST (+1) 2:16
07-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()San Diego Intl () 06:55PM MST 07:34PM PST 1:38
07-Mar-2026 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Denver Intl () 03:28PM EST 04:25PM MST 2:57
07-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 09:03AM MST 01:35PM EST 2:32
06-Mar-2026 A20NEppley Airfield ()Denver Intl () 11:53PM CST 12:03AM MST (+1) 1:10
06-Mar-2026 A20NDenver Intl ()Eppley Airfield () 07:56PM MST 10:25PM CST 1:28
06-Mar-2026 A20NOrlando Intl ()Denver Intl () 03:58PM EST 05:26PM MST 3:27
06-Mar-2026 A20NBirmingham-Shuttlesworth Intl ()Orlando Intl () 11:29AM CST 01:38PM EST 1:09
28-Feb-2026 A20NOrlando Intl ()Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Intl () 06:34AM EST 06:45AM CST 1:10
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