122 Votes (4.83 Average) and 27,232 Views  

Airbus A320 (N350NA) - Captured DL flt 2756 at FL 330 DFW-DTW on 01-20-22. Based on FR24 ground track, this aircraft was approximately 40 or so miles away from my home south of Indy. The aircraft was about 20-30 miles west of Indianapolis. Shot with Nikon D810 & Sigma 60-600 lense. Fully extended and cropped down quite a bit. It's a little soft, but for being as high and far away, I will take it.!
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Airbus A320 (N350NA)

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Captured DL flt 2756 at FL 330 DFW-DTW on 01-20-22. Based on FR24 ground track, this aircraft was approximately 40 or so miles away from my home south of Indy. The aircraft was about 20-30 miles west of Indianapolis. Shot with Nikon D810 & Sigma 60-600 lense. Fully extended and cropped down quite a bit. It's a little soft, but for being as high and far away, I will take it.!

Comments

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Diana Rose
Nice Work!
Bob Showalter
Wow!
Jeff Ward
Very nice. And perfect timing!
Preciosa captura.
Andrea Gentilini
Fly me to the moon ......
ken kemper
Beautiful Photo John.......

Your timing is perfect and the moon is most tricky to get the right exposure.

Well Done
Mark Albrecht
Who is the jerk that only gave this 4 stars? There's always someone...
RuboSay
Fantastic photo! The correlation between the Moon and airplane sizes make this photo a must! Great work!
John GiambonePhoto Uploader
Thank You for all the kind comments folks!
Jason Bryan
Hello from Bargersville, IN. Thank you for this incredible photo!
G52NNQhgcSPU
The moon is bigger than the plane. Although it usually doesn't seem that way.
Phil Caron
Amazing picture, well done to say the least! The idiot who gave a less than 5 rating is just that, an idiot.
Al Bell
Fly me to the moon,
Let me play among the stars.
Let me see what spring is like On Jupiter and Mars.
George General
Timing is everything. Awesome shot.
terry kelsey
*****+
Peter Sayers
Great capture
BIGDJB
Wow!!! Outstanding shot.
Dieter Hylla
I like it I have also have a sigma 600mm and I enjoy using that lense
pelican006
Beautiful photo, very hard to capture since the moon is only 30' 24" in diameter. Based on the date, the moon's angular size and the length of the A-320 (123.25'), it's altitude at FL 330,the photo seems to have been taken at 08:25 a.m., local time KIND, on January 20th 2022. Distance from the camera to the A-320 was 21.8 statute miles or 18.9 nautical miles.
John GiambonePhoto Uploader
Thanks Everyone! Pelican006 - That's amazing and mind blowing to me that you can figure that out based on the info I gave you. I want to say from what I recall, you nailed the altitude. As far as the distances, could be. I am no astrophysicist or mathematician, so it amazes me you can figure that stuff out. Just curious as to your background in terms of career? or is that all just a hobby for you? I appreciate your taking the time to figure that stuff out. That is so cool! Thank You!
pelican006
Hello John, it's done with trigonometry. The horizontal angle of the moon, 30' 24" is known and so the horizontal angle of the A-320 (3'40.782") can be measured.

Next, using the known length of the A-320, (123.25') and it's angle in degrees (.061328367º), we can calculate it's distance.

Altitude measurement is trickier. FL330 is based on a standard altimeter setting (29.92) and does not give the true altitude asl. Also, KIND is approx. 800' asl, so this would have to be substracted.

But with a precise date and time, and the exact GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken, we can calculate azimuth (bearing) and altitude with fairly good accuracy, because of the moon.

So, if your digital photo EXIF data is accurate, as to the date & time, you could do that. BTW, I am a retired air traffic controller with 36 years of service.
John GiambonePhoto Uploader
Pelican006 - Awesome, thank you so much for the explanation of how you got to the information you got. Trigonometry! Well, I totally sucked at math. Barely passed High School Algebra and Geometry. All I can say is I am glad we have smart folks like you who have a mind for this kind of math. I never even attepted Trig. Thanks for your service as an Air Traffic Controller! We're you in a tower, or center? I'd imagine over 36 years you probably did it all. Thanks for YOUR service and keeping us safe UP there!
Gene Pardee
There is a lot of air and the stuff in it between you and your subject. Nice image.
Alex Gregerson
Outstanding!
ACTIVITY LOG
Want a full history search for N350NA dating back to 1998? Buy now. Get it within one hour.
Date Aircraft Origin Destination Departure Arrival Duration
14-Jul-2025 A320Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 06:34PM EDT 08:14PM EDT Scheduled
13-Jul-2025 A320Reagan National ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 08:49PM EDT 10:04PM EDT Cancelled
12-Jul-2025 A320Reagan National ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 05:17PM EDT 06:37PM EDT Cancelled
11-Jul-2025 A320Reagan National ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 04:40PM EDT 06:06PM EDT Cancelled
08-Jul-2025 A320Hartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Reagan National () 01:41PM EDT 03:02PM EDT 1:20
05-Jul-2025 A320Nashville Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 05:39PM CDT 07:18PM EDT 0:39
05-Jul-2025 A320Hartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Nashville Intl () 04:00PM EDT 03:38PM CDT 0:37
05-Jul-2025 A320San Antonio Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 10:45AM CDT 02:01PM EDT 2:15
04-Jul-2025 A320Hartsfield-Jackson Intl ()San Antonio Intl () 02:39PM EDT 03:32PM CDT 1:52
04-Jul-2025 A320McGhee Tyson ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 01:01PM EDT 01:33PM EDT 0:32
04-Jul-2025 A320Hartsfield-Jackson Intl ()McGhee Tyson () 11:24AM EDT 11:52AM EDT 0:27
03-Jul-2025 A320Reagan National ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 09:30PM EDT 10:45PM EDT 1:14
03-Jul-2025 A320Hartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Reagan National () 07:03PM EDT 08:23PM EDT 1:20
03-Jul-2025 A320Bradley Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 12:01PM EDT 02:00PM EDT 1:59
03-Jul-2025 A320Hartsfield-Jackson Intl ()Bradley Intl () 09:02AM EDT 10:50AM EDT 1:47
03-Jul-2025 A320Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester Intl ()Hartsfield-Jackson Intl () 06:09AM EDT 07:50AM EDT 1:41
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