Friday Photo: Great Sand Dunes National Park

03/03/2017 - 19:45

airfactsjournal.com

Greg Chestnut was flying his Cessna 182 to Alamosa, Colorado, for avionics work when he passed over the Great Sand Dunes National Park. His photo captures the almost-surreal scene, with the Rockies towering over remote dunes, the tallest sand dunes in North America. Just another unique view that only an airplane offers.

The View: The Great Sand Dunes National Park (Alamosa, CO).

The Pilot: Greg Chestnut *.

The Airplane: Cessna 182P.

The Mission: To take the airplane from KAPA (Centennial, CO) to KALS (Alamosa, CO) and back for DME avionics work.

The Memory: Gorgeous views from Denver flying on the back side of Pike’s Peak and through Mosca Pass at 13,500 feet on the return flight. Going down to Alamosa, I had to fly the front range and through La Veta Pass due to high winds aloft.

Click on the image for a full size

* Greg is a Colorado native with a passion for adventure and new things. He has a beautiful wife that he’s been married to for 14 wonderful years, a 13-year old daughter and an 11-year old son. With his brother, he owns a contract glass company in the Denver area and has sister companies on the western slope of Colorado and in Colorado Springs. Greg is always on the go with his family, riding ATVs, playing hockey, or being a taxi service for the kids’ activities. Other non-aviation activities are hunting, golf, shooting, photography and camping. As far as flying goes, Greg has about 160 hours, ASEL instrument rated with a mountain flying checkout. He received his flight training through Aspen Flying Club at Centennial Airport (KAPA). Their instructors and staff are awesome and their fleet now has grown to impressive numbers.