Over the Clouds

I honor of my avatar and my business card.... in the plane that took me the most interesting places. Didn't climb through in IMC, just climbed above them before they were completely broken/overcast like you see. About 13,000 feet.



 
Ooo, can I play? Don't need no stinkin' IR. Just need some Bravo and exactly the right conditions. And a photog in the plane. Because Bravo is not the time to tell your passenger, "Here, you take the controls..."
i-mrP33dn-X3.jpg
I've posted the pic before, but it's Sutro Tower in San Francisco. We're at 2000', which is roughly 200' above Sutro. I want my IR to get more shots like this!

EDIT: included a shot of SFO to show why this wasn't quite as stupid doing this VFR as it looks in that shot.

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IAD-FRG a few months ago

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First time really flying near a cloud, much less ABOVE them. Being a wimpy Phoenix/Southwest flier, I'd never really flown anywhere near clouds... 'just don't see them that much when you are fair-weather flying. On a trip to Seattle I encountered my first "clouds". When Flight Following suggested it was OK to go above them, I did. With bits and pieces of Cascade peaks poking through, it was an incredible couple hours of flying.
https://goo.gl/photos/e2Tjns9eWcjSSso47
 
Ooo, can I play? Don't need no stinkin' IR. Just need some Bravo and exactly the right conditions. And a photog in the plane. Because Bravo is not the time to tell your passenger, "Here, you take the controls..."
View attachment 51214
I've posted the pic before, but it's Sutro Tower in San Francisco. We're at 2000', which is roughly 200' above Sutro. I want my IR to get more shots like this!

EDIT: included a shot of SFO to show why this wasn't quite as stupid doing this VFR as it looks in that shot.

View attachment 51215
Looks like you were about 2001 feet away from that tower! ;)
 
Looks like you were about 2001 feet away from that tower! ;)

Hah! The advantages of having an actual photog aboard with actual lenses: His lens and composition certainly make it look closer than it actually is.

Here's another pic that didn't turn out from about the same place that shows we're not all that close.

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ok looks like youtube deleted one of my videos without telling me. maybe from copyright infring but still, at least u can tell me. I'm not sure if this link will work, but this was a fun trip in and out of the clouds. boring for some, and for those who don't like music in videos, don't waste ur time clicking.

Belle
 
Took a flight yesterday, just for fun (or S&G, if you will).
Hadn't seen sun in 2 days. 50F, dark OVC and drizzle all weekend.
Climbed up above the 1000'-thick OVC and got instantly warm. It was 70F above the deck and the sun was baking us in the cockpit.

On the way back, we were assigned RNAV 36 while flying south. Descent to 3,100' put us right above the "fluff".
So sitting there while making the two 90-degree turns from the IAF and from the IF at that altitude was just amazing. It felt very peaceful and almost heavenly.
Eventually we descended through the OVC and landed.
On the ground, it was again dark, cold and drizzly.
But my high lasted until I fell asleep at night. :)


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I had 2.1 actual on my 4 hour flight taking the bird home from delivery this week. I am so bummed I didn't have the VIRB setup yet as there was some amazing sights. Here is a video of me cloud surfing and a picture of a shadow of my plane in a circular rainbow.

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Image of your plane surrounded by the rainbow.
It actually has a name.. A Glory

Always so cool to see!

"A glory is an optical phenomenon that resembles an iconic saint's halo about the shadow of the observer's head, caused by light of the Sun or (more rarely) the Moon interacting with the tiny water droplets that make up mist or clouds. The glory consists of one or more concentric, successively dimmer rings, each of which is red on the outside and bluish towards the centre. Due to its appearance, the phenomenon is sometimes mistaken for a circular rainbow, but the latter has a much larger diameter and is caused by different physical processes."
 
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Or the middle part of this video:


(crappy camera, but it kind of adds to the surreal effect):
 
I have a 'glory' picture too! I love those pictures... :)

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