67 Votes (4.57 Average) and 37,862 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)

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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
22-Jul-2025 A20NSan Diego Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 16:54 PDT 22:57 CDT Scheduled
22-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()San Diego Intl () 14:11 CDT 15:48 PDT Scheduled
22-Jul-2025 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 09:04 EDT 09:45 CDT Scheduled
22-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 05:36 CDT 08:12 EDT Scheduled
21-Jul-2025 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 23:14 EDT 00:11 CDT (+1) Scheduled
21-Jul-2025 A20NNashville Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 15:26 CDT 16:41 CDT Scheduled
21-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Nashville Intl () 13:33 CDT 14:27 CDT 0:54
21-Jul-2025 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 10:18 CDT 12:02 CDT 1:44
21-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 06:49 CDT 08:51 CDT 2:02
20-Jul-2025 A20NCharlotte/Douglas Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 22:19 EDT 23:12 CDT 1:52
20-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Charlotte/Douglas Intl () 18:12 CDT 20:37 EDT 1:25
20-Jul-2025 A20NNashville Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 15:25 CDT 16:45 CDT 1:19
20-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Nashville Intl () 12:54 CDT 14:03 CDT 1:08
20-Jul-2025 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 09:16 CDT 11:08 CDT 1:51
20-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 05:41 CDT 07:32 CDT 1:51
19-Jul-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 18:06 EDT 19:38 CDT 2:32
19-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Tampa Intl () 12:54 CDT 16:18 EDT 2:24
19-Jul-2025 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 09:31 EDT 09:57 CDT 1:26
19-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 05:19 CDT 07:46 EDT 1:26
18-Jul-2025 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 23:43 EDT 00:20 CDT (+1) 1:37
18-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 18:36 CDT 21:09 EDT 1:33
18-Jul-2025 A20NNashville Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 15:13 CDT 16:30 CDT 1:17
18-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Nashville Intl () 12:39 CDT 13:38 CDT 0:59
18-Jul-2025 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 09:02 CDT 10:52 CDT 1:50
18-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 05:40 CDT 07:28 CDT 1:48
17-Jul-2025 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 21:17 EDT 22:10 CDT 1:53
17-Jul-2025 A20NChicago O'Hare Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 17:02 CDT 19:34 EDT 1:31
17-Jul-2025 A20NCancun Int'l ()Chicago O'Hare Intl () 11:11 EST 14:25 CDT 3:14
17-Jul-2025 A20NSt Louis Lambert Intl ()Cancun Int'l () 06:46 CDT 09:36 EST 2:50
16-Jul-2025 A20NOrlando Intl ()St Louis Lambert Intl () 22:26 EDT 23:25 CDT 1:58
15-Jul-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Orlando Intl () 23:34 EDT 00:02 EDT (+1) 0:28
15-Jul-2025 A20NLong Island MacArthur ()Tampa Intl () 20:03 EDT 22:20 EDT 2:17
15-Jul-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Long Island MacArthur () 12:59 EDT 15:25 EDT 2:25
15-Jul-2025 A20NBoston Logan Intl ()Tampa Intl () 08:12 EDT 10:52 EDT 2:39
15-Jul-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Boston Logan Intl () 01:09 EDT 03:42 EDT 2:33
14-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Tampa Intl () 21:10 EDT 23:01 EDT 1:51
14-Jul-2025 A20NOrlando Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 17:43 EDT 19:35 EDT 1:51
14-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Orlando Intl () 14:11 EDT 16:01 EDT 1:50
14-Jul-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 09:11 EDT 10:51 EDT 1:40
14-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Tampa Intl () 05:58 EDT 07:42 EDT 1:43
13-Jul-2025 A20NAustin-Bergstrom Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 16:15 CDT 19:19 EDT 2:04
13-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Austin-Bergstrom Intl () 13:28 EDT 14:51 CDT 2:23
13-Jul-2025 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 08:52 CDT 11:49 EDT 1:56
13-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Houston Bush Int'ctl () 06:25 EDT 07:23 CDT 1:57
12-Jul-2025 A20NOrlando Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 16:41 EDT 18:37 EDT 1:56
12-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Orlando Intl () 12:29 EDT 14:12 EDT 1:43
12-Jul-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 09:22 EDT 11:11 EDT 1:48
12-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Tampa Intl () 06:16 EDT 08:00 EDT 1:43
11-Jul-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 21:22 MDT 01:51 EDT (+1) 2:29
11-Jul-2025 A20NRaleigh-Durham Intl ()Denver Intl () 17:37 EDT 19:04 MDT 3:27
11-Jul-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 11:21 MDT 16:20 EDT 2:58
11-Jul-2025 A20NLos Angeles Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:35 PDT 09:27 MDT 1:51
11-Jul-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Los Angeles Intl () 01:07 MDT 01:57 PDT 1:49
10-Jul-2025 A20NNashville Intl ()Denver Intl () 21:14 CDT 22:45 MDT 2:30
10-Jul-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Nashville Intl () 16:56 MDT 20:13 CDT 2:17
10-Jul-2025 A20NMinneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Denver Intl () 13:56 CDT 15:36 MDT 2:40
10-Jul-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 10:04 MDT 12:32 CDT 1:27
10-Jul-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Denver Intl () 08:04 EDT 08:45 MDT 2:41
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