I recently had the most disastrous trip of my life. The reason for the trip was a complete bust. Worse than a bust. But at least I did manage to capture an extraordinary set of images that really illustrates why I love to fly.

American Airlines (and TAM) at JFK Airport in New York City

JFK Airport in the foreground, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan receding into background

Sunset on the Hudson River at a Dutch Angle over New Amsterdam

LA LA Land, metaphorically; Los Angeles.

LA LA Land, actuality; in Tokyo. My seat mate was watching it. Normally the reflections in the windows drive me nuts, but Emma Stone isn't quite normal, so I decided to make the best of the situation.

Those Qantas A380s at Los Angeles are some of my favorite rides.

The shining Denver airport in the sunset

Watching a plane land while waiting for takeoff at Denver

Sunset from the air over the Denver Rockies, taken with iPhone 7+ with Lightroom's HDR function

The plan was to have Fineas fly the two of us along the Great Ocean Road in a plane. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. Fineas is only rated for visual flight rules (VFR) and couldn't fly through the very low ceiling of clouds to reach the coast, which was perfectly clear.

Fineas taxiing the plane after some touch and go landings to familiarize himself with the plane and airport

So we spent the day at Lethbridge Airport keeping an anxious eye on the sky. We did have a lovely time chatting with a flight instructor and student for much of the day. As an AvGeek, I really did enjoy the day, despite its disappointment.

As a bonus, the hangar next door was filled with several beautifully maintained and still quite flyable vintage aircraft, the highlight of which was this Soviet-made Antonov AN-2, the largest bi-plane in the world, I believe:

Antonov AN-2 with very stylish leather couches

The Beauty of Flight :: New York, LA, Tokyo, Denver

Lethbridge Airport and the Antonov AN-2 :: Victoria, Australia