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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.

53 of N316FR 5049 of A20N 2178 at KRNO
Gary Schenauer
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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.
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trembo A
awesome capture!
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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.
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Darryl Sarno
Great shot Gary!
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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!
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ken kemper
Great Capture Gary............

Interesting add on about how the pic was "made".
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JM32
WOW !! I mean really WOW. This is an awesome picture. Well done Gary. 3 thumbs up
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Dale Docken
Totally magnificent, Gary!!
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Qatar123
Awesome shot Gary!
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ACTIVITY LOG
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Date Aircraft Origin Destination Departure Arrival Duration
25-Jun-2025 A20NCleveland-Hopkins Intl ()Tampa Intl () 03:57PM EDT 06:04PM EDT Scheduled
25-Jun-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Cleveland-Hopkins Intl () 12:32PM EDT 02:32PM EDT Scheduled
25-Jun-2025 A20NBaltimore/Washington Intl ()Tampa Intl () 08:13AM EDT 10:12AM EDT Scheduled
24-Jun-2025 A20NTampa Intl ()Baltimore/Washington Intl () 08:22PM EDT 10:30PM EDT Scheduled
24-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Tampa Intl () 02:06PM MDT 07:23PM EDT Scheduled
24-Jun-2025 A20NLos Angeles Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:37AM PDT 09:22AM MDT 1:44
23-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Los Angeles Intl () 11:37PM MDT 12:44AM PDT (+1) 2:07
23-Jun-2025 A20NOKC Will Rogers Intl ()Denver Intl () 08:52PM CDT 09:29PM MDT 1:37
23-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()OKC Will Rogers Intl () 05:03PM MDT 07:24PM CDT 1:21
23-Jun-2025 A20NBuffalo Niagara Intl ()Denver Intl () 02:30PM EDT 03:31PM MDT 3:00
23-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Buffalo Niagara Intl () 08:24AM MDT 01:12PM EDT 2:47
22-Jun-2025 A20NDane Co Rgnl ()Denver Intl () 09:10PM CDT 10:12PM MDT 2:02
22-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Dane Co Rgnl () 05:23PM MDT 08:07PM CDT 1:44
22-Jun-2025 A20NJohn Wayne ()Denver Intl () 12:22PM PDT 03:14PM MDT 1:51
22-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()John Wayne () 10:04AM MDT 11:13AM PDT 2:09
22-Jun-2025 A20NNashville Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:29AM CDT 07:43AM MDT 2:14
21-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Nashville Intl () 08:54PM MDT 11:57PM CDT 2:03
21-Jun-2025 A20NBaltimore/Washington Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:02PM EDT 07:23PM MDT 3:20
21-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Baltimore/Washington Intl () 11:52AM MDT 04:47PM EDT 2:55
21-Jun-2025 A20NSan Francisco Int'l ()Denver Intl () 07:23AM PDT 10:21AM MDT 1:57
21-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()San Francisco Int'l () 12:06AM MDT 01:22AM PDT 2:15
20-Jun-2025 A20NNashville Intl ()Denver Intl () 08:52PM CDT 10:06PM MDT 2:14
20-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Nashville Intl () 03:11PM MDT 06:14PM CDT 2:03
20-Jun-2025 A20NMinneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Denver Intl () 01:01PM CDT 01:36PM MDT 1:34
20-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 08:48AM MDT 11:15AM CDT 1:27
20-Jun-2025 A20NCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ()Denver Intl () 06:29AM EDT 07:02AM MDT 2:33
19-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport () 08:08PM MDT 12:13AM EDT (+1) 2:05
19-Jun-2025 A20NRaleigh-Durham Intl ()Denver Intl () 05:49PM EDT 07:01PM MDT 3:12
19-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 11:20AM MDT 04:08PM EDT 2:48
19-Jun-2025 A20NSan Francisco Int'l ()Denver Intl () 06:49AM PDT 09:55AM MDT 2:06
18-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()San Francisco Int'l () 09:50PM MDT 11:01PM PDT 2:10
18-Jun-2025 A20NJoe Foss Fld ()Denver Intl () 07:49PM CDT 08:01PM MDT 1:11
18-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Joe Foss Fld () 04:28PM MDT 06:33PM CDT 1:05
18-Jun-2025 A20NJohn Wayne ()Denver Intl () 12:18PM PDT 03:12PM MDT 1:54
18-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()John Wayne () 09:57AM MDT 10:52AM PDT 1:54
18-Jun-2025 A20NMinneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Denver Intl () 07:28AM CDT 08:06AM MDT 1:37
18-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 12:34AM MDT 02:59AM CDT 1:24
17-Jun-2025 A20NEppley Airfield ()Denver Intl () 10:49PM CDT 11:08PM MDT 1:18
17-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Eppley Airfield () 07:38PM MDT 09:39PM CDT 1:00
17-Jun-2025 A20NJohn Wayne ()Denver Intl () 03:18PM PDT 06:15PM MDT 1:56
17-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()John Wayne () 10:42AM MDT 11:43AM PDT 2:00
17-Jun-2025 A20NMinneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Denver Intl () 08:03AM CDT 08:52AM MDT 1:48
16-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 10:16PM MDT 12:45AM CDT (+1) 1:28
16-Jun-2025 A20NOntario Intl ()Denver Intl () 05:23PM PDT 08:05PM MDT 1:42
16-Jun-2025 A20NSeattle-Tacoma Intl ()Ontario Intl () 02:01PM PDT 04:07PM PDT 2:06
16-Jun-2025 A20NOntario Intl ()Seattle-Tacoma Intl () 10:21AM PDT 12:34PM PDT 2:13
16-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Ontario Intl () 08:12AM MDT 09:14AM PDT 2:01
16-Jun-2025 A20NLaGuardia ()Denver Intl () 12:08AM EDT 02:10AM MDT (+1) Cancelled
15-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()LaGuardia () 07:05PM MDT 12:36AM EDT (+1) Cancelled
15-Jun-2025 A20NJohn Wayne ()Denver Intl () 12:26PM PDT 03:13PM MDT 1:47
15-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()John Wayne () 10:08AM MDT 11:11AM PDT 2:02
15-Jun-2025 A20NReagan National ()Denver Intl () 07:07AM EDT 08:28AM MDT 3:21
14-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Reagan National () 06:52PM MDT 11:53PM EDT 3:01
14-Jun-2025 A20NEl Paso Intl ()Denver Intl () 01:19PM MDT 02:48PM MDT 1:28
14-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()El Paso Intl () 10:48AM MDT 12:09PM MDT 1:21
14-Jun-2025 A20NLos Angeles Intl ()Denver Intl () 06:38AM PDT 09:36AM MDT 1:57
13-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Los Angeles Intl () 11:53PM MDT 12:50AM PDT (+1) 1:56
13-Jun-2025 A20NNorthwest Arkansas Ntl ()Denver Intl () 09:12PM CDT 09:45PM MDT 1:33
13-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Northwest Arkansas Ntl () 04:24PM MDT 06:48PM CDT 1:24
13-Jun-2025 A20NReno/Tahoe Intl ()Denver Intl () 12:06PM PDT 02:57PM MDT 1:51
13-Jun-2025 A20NDenver Intl ()Reno/Tahoe Intl () 09:55AM MDT 10:45AM PDT 1:49
13-Jun-2025 A20NHouston Bush Int'ctl ()Denver Intl () 06:20AM CDT 07:12AM MDT 1:52
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