122 Votes (4.83 Average) and 29,257 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
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Date Aircraft Origin Destination Departure Arrival Duration
19-Jan-2026 A320Orlando Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 09:09PM EST 10:32PM EST Scheduled
19-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Orlando Intl () 06:21PM EST 07:52PM EST Scheduled
19-Jan-2026 A320Fort Lauderdale Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 03:24PM EST 05:04PM EST Scheduled
19-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Fort Lauderdale Intl () 12:16PM EST 02:00PM EST Scheduled
19-Jan-2026 A320Tampa Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 09:40AM EST 11:03AM EST Scheduled
19-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Tampa Intl () 06:40AM EST 08:10AM EST Scheduled
18-Jan-2026 A320Orlando Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 04:01PM EST 05:09PM EST Scheduled
18-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Orlando Intl () 01:01PM EST 02:55PM EST 1:54
18-Jan-2026 A320Orlando Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 09:58AM EST 11:11AM EST 1:12
18-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Orlando Intl () 07:18AM EST 08:52AM EST 1:34
17-Jan-2026 A320Fort Lauderdale Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 03:51PM EST 05:22PM EST 1:30
17-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Fort Lauderdale Intl () 12:50PM EST 02:35PM EST 1:44
17-Jan-2026 A320Orlando Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 10:14AM EST 11:32AM EST 1:17
17-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Orlando Intl () 07:12AM EST 08:39AM EST 1:26
16-Jan-2026 A320Fort Lauderdale Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 03:28PM EST 05:04PM EST 1:36
16-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Fort Lauderdale Intl () 12:14PM EST 01:59PM EST 1:45
16-Jan-2026 A320Tampa Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 09:28AM EST 10:49AM EST 1:21
16-Jan-2026 A320Raleigh-Durham Intl ()Tampa Intl () 06:42AM EST 08:11AM EST 1:29
15-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Raleigh-Durham Intl () 08:09PM CST 11:02PM EST 1:53
15-Jan-2026 A320Vancouver Int'l ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 12:30PM PST 05:11PM CST 2:40
15-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Vancouver Int'l () 09:12AM CST 10:44AM PST 3:31
14-Jan-2026 A320LaGuardia ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 06:38PM EST 07:55PM CST 2:16
14-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()LaGuardia () 01:57PM CST 05:08PM EST 2:10
14-Jan-2026 A320Spokane Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 07:15AM PST 11:41AM CST 2:25
13-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Spokane Intl () 06:52PM CST 07:31PM PST 2:39
13-Jan-2026 A320Austin-Bergstrom Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 12:48PM CST 03:04PM CST 2:15
13-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Austin-Bergstrom Intl () 09:28AM CST 11:44AM CST 2:15
13-Jan-2026 A320Bismarck Muni ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 05:04AM CST 06:03AM CST 0:58
12-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Bismarck Muni () 09:58PM CST 11:08PM CST 1:09
12-Jan-2026 A320Nashville Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 06:57PM CST 08:45PM CST 1:47
12-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Nashville Intl () 03:42PM CST 05:16PM CST 1:33
12-Jan-2026 A320Philadelphia Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 11:36AM EST 01:07PM CST 2:31
12-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 07:14AM CST 10:11AM EST 1:57
11-Jan-2026 A320LaGuardia ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 06:35PM EST 08:11PM CST 2:35
11-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()LaGuardia () 02:07PM CST 05:10PM EST 2:02
11-Jan-2026 A320Philadelphia Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 11:28AM EST 01:03PM CST 2:34
11-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Philadelphia Intl () 06:56AM CST 09:58AM EST 2:02
10-Jan-2026 A320Bozeman Yellowstone Intl ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 04:51PM MST 07:51PM CST 1:59
10-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Bozeman Yellowstone Intl () 11:43AM CST 12:46PM MST 2:02
10-Jan-2026 A320LaGuardia ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 08:03AM EST 09:40AM CST 2:37
09-Jan-2026 A320Detroit Metro Wayne Co ()LaGuardia () 06:43PM EST 08:07PM EST 1:23
09-Jan-2026 A320Lynden Pindling Int'l (Nassau) ()Detroit Metro Wayne Co () 01:46PM EST 04:41PM EST 2:54
09-Jan-2026 A320Detroit Metro Wayne Co ()Lynden Pindling Int'l (Nassau) () 09:06AM EST 11:39AM EST 2:32
07-Jan-2026 A320Minneapolis/St Paul Intl ()Detroit Metro Wayne Co () 01:04PM CST 03:11PM EST 1:07
07-Jan-2026 A320Gowen Field ()Minneapolis/St Paul Intl () 05:39AM MST 08:52AM CST 2:12
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