Flying Lit (Differently)

No, not THAT kind of lit.

Those who have seen the photos I take of Moonraker over the years might notice this one is a bit different.


I am, by nature, a night owl. I sleep moderately late in the mornings, then putter around the house for several hours. Generally don't make it outside until after noon.

This means almost all of my flying is done in the afternoon...with the sun in the west. There have been few exceptions to this over the years, such as mounting up early and heading out to go to a local Fly-In. And, a decade or so back, my work was doing nefarious things in the deep woods and I flew overhead right after dawn to shoot some pictures.

Had my BFR scheduled today, only to find it was cancelled due to airplane problems. So here I am, semi-awake, standing at the counter at the airport 2,000 feet from my airplane, with nothing to do.
What the heck. Might as well fly.

Something was different. Thinks looked weird. Then I realized I was seeing the airplane and airport lit differently. The shadows were pointing west, not east. The instrument panel took an odd cast.

Flying, too, things looked odd. Familiar structures seemed...changed, somehow. It was a tad bizarre.

Back home for some touch and goes. Again, things a bit weird. Almost like landing at somewhere new.

But, thing went well, with some decent landings. Get gas, then back to the hangar.

The picture? Most of the shots you see of my airplane are taken from the west side, showing the fence and car dealer in the background. This one...one of the few I've taken from the east, shows the hangar row and distant hill.