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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.

50 of N316FR 3615 of A20N 1988 at KRNO
Gary Schenauer
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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.
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trembo A
awesome capture!
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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.
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Darryl Sarno
Great shot Gary!
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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!
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ken kemper
Great Capture Gary............

Interesting add on about how the pic was "made".
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JM32
WOW !! I mean really WOW. This is an awesome picture. Well done Gary. 3 thumbs up
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Dale Docken
Totally magnificent, Gary!!
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Qatar123
Awesome shot Gary!
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ACTIVITY LOG
Want a full history search for N316FR dating back to 1998? Buy now. Get it within one hour.
Date Aircraft Origin Destination Departure Arrival Duration
01-Jun-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()Orlando Intl () 11:48AM PDT 07:11PM EDT Scheduled
01-Jun-2023 A20NCharlotte/Douglas Intl ()Harry Reid Intl () 08:25AM EDT 09:58AM PDT Scheduled
31-May-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()Charlotte/Douglas Intl () 11:17PM PDT 06:24AM EDT (+1) Scheduled
31-May-2023 A20NSt Louis Lambert Intl ()Harry Reid Intl () 06:20PM CDT 07:36PM PDT Scheduled
31-May-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()St Louis Lambert Intl () 11:48AM PDT 04:48PM CDT Scheduled
30-May-2023 A20NSt Louis Lambert Intl ()Harry Reid Intl () 06:32PM CDT 07:51PM PDT 3:18
30-May-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()St Louis Lambert Intl () 12:39PM PDT 05:19PM CDT 2:40
30-May-2023 A20NOrlando Intl ()Harry Reid Intl () 09:47AM EDT 11:18AM PDT 4:31
30-May-2023 A20NPhoenix Sky Harbor Intl ()Orlando Intl () 12:28AM MST 07:07AM EDT 3:38
29-May-2023 A20NJohn Wayne ()Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl () 09:29PM PDT 10:22PM MST 0:52
29-May-2023 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()John Wayne () 07:44PM CDT 08:38PM PDT 2:53
29-May-2023 A20NSan Diego Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 01:18PM PDT 05:47PM CDT 2:28
29-May-2023 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()San Diego Intl () 11:29AM CDT 11:58AM PDT 2:29
29-May-2023 A20NPhoenix Sky Harbor Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 05:38AM MST 09:25AM CDT 1:46
28-May-2023 A20NJohn Wayne ()Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl () 09:42PM PDT 10:35PM MST 0:53
28-May-2023 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()John Wayne () 07:56PM CDT 08:42PM PDT 2:45
28-May-2023 A20NSan Diego Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 01:13PM PDT 05:49PM CDT 2:35
28-May-2023 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()San Diego Intl () 11:30AM CDT 12:04PM PDT 2:33
28-May-2023 A20NPhoenix Sky Harbor Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 05:34AM MST 09:30AM CDT 1:55
27-May-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl () 10:25PM PDT 11:09PM MST 0:43
27-May-2023 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Harry Reid Intl () 08:27PM CDT 09:02PM PDT 2:34
27-May-2023 A20NCancun Int'l ()Houston Bush Int'ctl () 04:07PM EST 06:05PM CDT 1:58
27-May-2023 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Cancun Int'l () 01:03PM CDT 02:45PM EST 1:41
27-May-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()Houston Bush Int'ctl () 06:30AM PDT 11:07AM CDT 2:36
26-May-2023 A20NMiami Intl ()Harry Reid Intl () 10:34PM EDT 12:20AM PDT (+1) 4:46
26-May-2023 A20NChicago Midway Intl ()Miami Intl () 05:30PM CDT 09:14PM EDT 2:43
26-May-2023 A20NMiami Intl ()Chicago Midway Intl () 02:15PM EDT 03:53PM CDT 2:38
26-May-2023 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Miami Intl () 10:16AM AST 12:53PM EDT 2:36
26-May-2023 A20NMiami Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 06:36AM EDT 08:54AM AST 2:17
25-May-2023 A20NSangster Int'l ()Miami Intl () 08:57PM EST 11:14PM EDT 1:17
25-May-2023 A20NMiami Intl ()Sangster Int'l () 07:23PM EDT 07:38PM EST 1:14
25-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Miami Intl () 11:42AM MDT 05:17PM EDT 3:35
25-May-2023 A20NCharlotte/Douglas Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:38AM EDT 07:27AM MDT 2:49
24-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Charlotte/Douglas Intl () 09:36PM MDT 02:21AM EDT (+1) 2:45
24-May-2023 A20NReagan National ()Denver Intl () 06:41PM EDT 08:25PM MDT 3:43
24-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Reagan National () 12:00PM MDT 05:11PM EDT 3:10
24-May-2023 A20NPhoenix Sky Harbor Intl ()Denver Intl () 08:09AM MST 10:29AM MDT 1:19
24-May-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl () 06:06AM PDT 06:52AM MST 0:46
23-May-2023 A20NDetroit Metro Wayne Co ()Harry Reid Intl () 08:19PM EDT 09:05PM PDT 3:46
23-May-2023 A20NPhoenix Sky Harbor Intl ()Detroit Metro Wayne Co () 12:15PM MST 06:49PM EDT 3:34
23-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl () 10:11AM MDT 10:41AM MST 1:29
23-May-2023 A20NReagan National ()Denver Intl () 07:04AM EDT 08:21AM MDT 3:16
22-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Reagan National () 04:38PM MDT 09:38PM EDT 3:00
22-May-2023 A20NClinton National ()Denver Intl () 02:19PM CDT 03:09PM MDT 1:49
22-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Clinton National () 10:26AM MDT 01:05PM CDT 1:38
21-May-2023 A20NSan Francisco Int'l ()Denver Intl () 09:00PM PDT 12:06AM MDT (+1) 2:05
21-May-2023 A20NPhoenix Sky Harbor Intl ()San Francisco Int'l () 05:59PM MST 07:32PM PDT 1:32
21-May-2023 A20NSan Francisco Int'l ()Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl () 03:12PM PDT 04:47PM MST 1:35
21-May-2023 A20NOntario Intl ()San Francisco Int'l () 12:21PM PDT 01:15PM PDT 0:54
21-May-2023 A20NSan Francisco Int'l ()Ontario Intl () 10:16AM PDT 11:16AM PDT 0:59
21-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()San Francisco Int'l () 07:41AM MDT 08:43AM PDT 2:01
21-May-2023 A20NPortland Intl ()Denver Intl () 12:41AM PDT 03:48AM MDT 2:06
20-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Portland Intl () 10:16PM MDT 11:24PM PDT 2:07
20-May-2023 A20NWill Rogers World ()Denver Intl () 08:26PM CDT 08:38PM MDT 1:11
20-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Will Rogers World () 05:09PM MDT 07:14PM CDT 1:05
20-May-2023 A20NNashville Intl ()Denver Intl () 11:41AM CDT 01:11PM MDT 2:30
20-May-2023 A20NDenver Intl ()Nashville Intl () 07:19AM MDT 10:24AM CDT 2:05
20-May-2023 A20NHarry Reid Intl ()Denver Intl () 02:29AM PDT 04:54AM MDT 1:24
19-May-2023 A20NOrlando Intl ()Harry Reid Intl () 11:31PM EDT 01:05AM PDT (+1) 4:34
19-May-2023 A20NSangster Int'l ()Orlando Intl () 04:21PM EST 07:00PM EDT 1:38
19-May-2023 A20NOrlando Intl ()Sangster Int'l () 02:04PM EDT 02:40PM EST 1:35
19-May-2023 A20NChicago Midway Intl ()Orlando Intl () 05:59AM CDT 09:04AM EDT 2:04
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