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Coolest thing you ever seen from a plane


Ice bowl 67

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Hard to beat flying right over Manhattan at night.

 

 

Although the coolest thing I ever flew over was the Verrazano-Narrows bridge 5 minutes before the start of the NYC marathon, at about 1200 feet in a Cessna.

Edited by KD in CA
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The coolest thing by far for me was coming in from over the Atlantic and seeing the morning sun rising over the mountains in Portugal. The orange light shone like beams through the peaks. It was indescribable, really.

 

Honorable mentions would be watching a sky-writer from far above, as well as flying high over a fireworks display.

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I may not be the one to answer this the same as most since I flew Navy attack and fighter airplanes, then 32 years in my airline career on the 727, 757, 767 and 777, but...

In the Navy, flying low level training missions at 100' and 420 knots all over the west coast and Philippines.

Seeing the carrier after a long mission with relatively low fuel.

Getting to 50,000' and seeing the curvature of the earth.

Blowing up a drone over the Pacific with a Sidewinder missile.

The joy of flying wing.

 

In the airlines, watching the sun come up over the European continent every trip east.

Flying down the length of Italy on the way into Rome.

Watching the Southern Cross rotate about the South Pole every night on the way to Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo.

Watching the Space Shuttle fly just after launch.

Flying down the west side of the Andes, just over the Pacific and descending into Santiago, Chile.

The entire approach and landing into La Paz Bolivia at over 13000' airport altitude.

Seeing countless demonstrations of the northern lights while sitting in the darkened cockpit.

Flying over Northern Alaska and the North Pole on the way to Tokyo or Beijing.

 

Just knowing you'd have the best view in the world every night.

Edited by sherpa
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I may not be the one to answer this the same as most since I flew Navy attack and fighter airplanes, then 32 years in my airline career on the 727, 757, 767 and 777, but...

In the Navy, flying low level training missions at 100' and 420 knots all over the west coast and Philippines.

Seeing the carrier after a long mission with relatively low fuel.

Getting to 50,000' and seeing the curvature of the earth.

Blowing up a drone over the Pacific with a Sidewinder missile.

The joy of flying wing.

 

In the airlines, watching the sun come up over the European continent every trip east.

Flying down the length of Italy on the way into Rome.

Watching the Southern Cross rotate about the South Pole every night on the way to Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo.

Watching the Space Shuttle fly just after launch.

Flying down the west side of the Andes, just over the Pacific and descending into Santiago, Chile.

The entire approach and landing into La Paz Bolivia at over 13000' airport altitude.

Seeing countless demonstrations of the northern lights while sitting in the darkened cockpit.

Flying over Northern Alaska and the North Pole on the way to Tokyo or Beijing.

 

Just knowing you'd have the best view in the world every night.

 

Gentleman we have a winner.

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Not from the plane, but I was on a major Canadian highway moving slowly at rush hour and saw a very large craft leave the runway and try to stop along a large stretch where there was nothing but a chain fence between the highway and the plane. Fortunately it stopped in the fence and nobody was seriously hurt.

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Alaska when there's daylight is always impressive. One moment that sticks with me is flying over a stretch of the Pacific and just barely being able to make out a solitary container ship making its way across the ocean. Gave me a real appreciation for the scale of everything I was seeing.

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I forgot to mention the one thing I wish I could show everyone.

St Elmo's fire extending from the radome over the windscreen.

It is truly an unbelievable thing to watch.

I guess it would scare the heck out of people, but it is truly cool.

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