66 Votes (4.58 Average) and 31,949 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.
/images/icons/csMagGlass.png medium / large / full

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

Please log in or register to post a comment.

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
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
28-Apr-2024 A21NMcGhee Tyson ()Orlando Intl () 08:08AM EDT 09:33AM EDT Scheduled
28-Apr-2024 A21NOrlando Intl ()McGhee Tyson () 05:25AM EDT 06:48AM EDT Scheduled
27-Apr-2024 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()Orlando Intl () 08:04PM EDT 10:46PM EDT Scheduled
27-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 04:15PM EDT 06:39PM EDT Scheduled
27-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Orlando Intl () 11:45AM AST 02:32PM EDT En Route
27-Apr-2024 A20NPunta Cana Int'l ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 08:58AM AST 09:30AM AST 0:31
27-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Punta Cana Int'l () 06:53AM AST 07:24AM AST 0:30
26-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 09:32PM EDT 11:55PM AST 2:23
26-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Orlando Intl () 04:53PM AST 07:44PM EDT 2:51
26-Apr-2024 A20NRaleigh-Durham Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 10:57AM EDT 01:56PM AST 2:58
26-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 06:06AM AST 09:39AM EDT 3:33
26-Apr-2024 A20NTampa Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 12:35AM EDT 03:06AM AST 2:30
25-Apr-2024 A20NBradley Intl ()Tampa Intl () 08:33PM EDT 10:58PM EDT 2:24
25-Apr-2024 A20NTampa Intl ()Bradley Intl () 04:52PM EDT 07:29PM EDT 2:36
25-Apr-2024 A20NLong Island MacArthur ()Tampa Intl () 11:04AM EDT 01:29PM EDT 2:24
25-Apr-2024 A20NTampa Intl ()Long Island MacArthur () 07:18AM EDT 09:40AM EDT 2:21
24-Apr-2024 A20NLas Americas ()Tampa Intl () 01:26PM AST 03:55PM EDT 2:28
24-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Las Americas () 11:10AM AST 11:49AM AST 0:38
24-Apr-2024 A20NPunta Cana Int'l ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 08:53AM AST 09:27AM AST 0:33
24-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Punta Cana Int'l () 06:57AM AST 07:33AM AST 0:35
23-Apr-2024 A20NLas Americas ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 05:04PM AST 05:48PM AST 0:43
23-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Las Americas () 02:36PM AST 03:20PM AST 0:43
23-Apr-2024 A20NJacksonville Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 09:36AM EDT 12:10PM AST 2:34
23-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Jacksonville Intl () 05:10AM AST 08:23AM EDT 3:12
23-Apr-2024 A20NTampa Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 01:06AM EDT 03:19AM AST 2:12
22-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Tampa Intl () 08:32PM AST 11:25PM EDT 2:53
22-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 04:26PM EDT 06:53PM AST 2:26
22-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Orlando Intl () 11:58AM AST 02:53PM EDT 2:54
22-Apr-2024 A20NPunta Cana Int'l ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 09:27AM AST 10:00AM AST 0:32
22-Apr-2024 A20NLuis Munoz Marin Intl ()Punta Cana Int'l () 07:01AM AST 07:40AM AST 0:38
21-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Luis Munoz Marin Intl () 09:17PM EDT 11:29PM AST 2:12
21-Apr-2024 A20NHarrisburg Intl ()Orlando Intl () 04:04PM EDT 06:26PM EDT 2:22
21-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Harrisburg Intl () 12:30PM EDT 02:21PM EDT 1:51
21-Apr-2024 A20NNew Orleans Intl ()Orlando Intl () 08:38AM CDT 11:01AM EDT 1:23
21-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()New Orleans Intl () 06:39AM EDT 07:05AM CDT 1:26
20-Apr-2024 A20NBaltimore/Washington Intl ()Orlando Intl () 09:04PM EDT 11:07PM EDT 2:02
20-Apr-2024 A20NDetroit Metro Wayne Co ()Baltimore/Washington Intl () 06:46PM EDT 07:50PM EDT 1:04
20-Apr-2024 A20NBaltimore/Washington Intl ()Detroit Metro Wayne Co () 04:06PM EDT 05:19PM EDT 1:12
20-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Baltimore/Washington Intl () 12:42PM EDT 02:23PM EDT 1:41
20-Apr-2024 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Orlando Intl () 08:53AM EDT 10:38AM EDT 1:44
20-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 05:50AM EDT 07:31AM EDT 1:41
19-Apr-2024 A20NTrenton Mercer ()Orlando Intl () 10:54PM EDT 12:55AM EDT (+1) 2:01
19-Apr-2024 A20NPalm Beach Intl ()Trenton Mercer () 07:19PM EDT 09:39PM EDT 2:19
19-Apr-2024 A20NTrenton Mercer ()Palm Beach Intl () 02:43PM EDT 05:02PM EDT 2:19
19-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Trenton Mercer () 11:26AM EDT 01:30PM EDT 2:04
19-Apr-2024 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()Orlando Intl () 06:59AM EDT 08:55AM EDT 1:55
18-Apr-2024 A20NNew Orleans Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 09:13PM CDT 12:27AM EDT (+1) 2:13
18-Apr-2024 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()New Orleans Intl () 06:11PM EDT 07:40PM CDT 2:28
18-Apr-2024 A20NChicago Midway Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 12:47PM CDT 03:11PM EDT 1:23
18-Apr-2024 A20NOrlando Intl ()Chicago Midway Intl () 10:14AM EDT 11:43AM CDT 2:29
18-Apr-2024 A20NChicago Midway Intl ()Orlando Intl () 05:55AM CDT 08:54AM EDT 1:59
17-Apr-2024 A20NRaleigh-Durham Intl ()Chicago Midway Intl () 08:38PM EDT 09:20PM CDT 1:41
17-Apr-2024 A20NChicago Midway Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 05:12PM CDT 07:38PM EDT 1:26
17-Apr-2024 A20NDallas-Fort Worth Intl ()Chicago Midway Intl () 02:18PM CDT 04:08PM CDT 1:50
17-Apr-2024 A20NHartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Dallas-Fort Worth Intl () 11:42AM EDT 12:47PM CDT 2:05
17-Apr-2024 A20NChicago Midway Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 07:08AM CDT 09:34AM EDT 1:26
16-Apr-2024 A20NTampa Intl ()Chicago Midway Intl () 09:26PM EDT 10:51PM CDT 2:24
16-Apr-2024 A20NPhiladelphia Intl ()Tampa Intl () 05:54PM EDT 08:00PM EDT 2:05
16-Apr-2024 A20NChicago Midway Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 01:06PM CDT 03:36PM EDT 1:29
16-Apr-2024 A20NDenver Intl ()Chicago Midway Intl () 08:43AM MDT 11:35AM CDT 1:51
Basic users (becoming a basic user is free and easy!) view 3 months history. Join
 

Login

Don't have an account? Register now (free) for customized features, flight alerts, and more!
Did you know that FlightAware flight tracking is supported by advertising?
You can help us keep FlightAware free by allowing ads from FlightAware.com. We work hard to keep our advertising relevant and unobtrusive to create a great experience. It's quick and easy to whitelist ads on FlightAware or please consider our premium accounts.
Dismiss