This is very cool.
Prints can be ordered at:
Flight to Venus Prints - Bob Fugate's Photos | SmugMug
D800 Venus Transit Shoot - Bob Fugate's Photos | SmugMug
From the photographer, Bob Fugate:
“Flight to Venus
This is a United Parcel Service MD-11 aircraft UPS Flight 4911 en route from Ontario, CA to Louisville, KY flying at 37,000 ft and was 71.3 miles from the camera. Elevation was 3.5 degrees.
After a week of inquiries, I have made contact with the crew -- Captain David Kantor and 1st Officer Dean Burke. I have made two large prints and will be mounting, framing, and sending them to David and Dean.
See next photo for a map showing the locations of the camera and aircraft.”
From Captain Kantor:
“So....I get this call from my first officer this afternoon and he says, 'Hey, the FAA and UPS thinks this is OUR flight #4911 from ONT-SDF the other day!' It was...
I asked the photographer, 'How did you figure out we were 71.3 miles away from you?' He said that once he found out we were an MD-11, he looked up the dimensions of the aircraft, he estimated the heading we were on (the FAA confirmed his calculation was within 5 degrees), he knew angle he shot the picture at, he then calculated the distance based on the known length of each pixel in the photo, ABQ Center told him that we were at 37,000'....and came up with 71.3 miles.
Fly Safe,
David Kantor
MD-11”