2022-01-18, 12:36 PM
Back story: I came across a 58 minute long video of a private plane flight from Las Vegas to the Furnace Creek Airport and considered it the best "fly into Death Valley" video I've ever seen. I was astounded at the video production quality and how accurate the geology appeared outside the cockpit windows. It felt like I was inside of the plane and got to feel the thrill of what I imagined would be of actually landing at the airport in Death Valley which has been a dream of mine for over a decade. Even to current times I drive out to the airport almost every time I pass through Furnace Creek to see if there are planes there and to maybe video a take off or a landing.
BTW - During my last trip to DEV last December 2021 I was at the gazebo high above The Inn At Death Valley enjoying a crystal clear view of the entire valley when a small private plane flew westward down the Furnace Creek Wash, circled north of the airport and back around for a south approach landing. I video shot the entire event but it was so far away that it made for a boring and low quality video. However it was sure fun to observe!
So I edited the 58 minutes down to six minutes and spliced in ground shots of locations being flown over and added a sound track. I've probably watched the six minute version ten times now I enjoy it so much because I've hiked around about 80% of what is seen outside of the cockpit. If you pause the video you can see great details of places that you've hiked as well.
I obtained permission from video creator Mark Gruchy to publish my short version believing he was the pilot actually flying and taking the images/video. Come to find out that he's never been to Death Valley but enjoys flying into the park via his Microsoft Flight Simulator. Other users of the flight simulation app and fans of DEVA have contributed data to the app to the point that the version of today is almost better than most footage taken by actual pilots flying into DEVA.
So strap yourself into the pilots seat and fly from Vegas to Furnace Creek and see if you enjoy the experience as much as I do?
BTW - During my last trip to DEV last December 2021 I was at the gazebo high above The Inn At Death Valley enjoying a crystal clear view of the entire valley when a small private plane flew westward down the Furnace Creek Wash, circled north of the airport and back around for a south approach landing. I video shot the entire event but it was so far away that it made for a boring and low quality video. However it was sure fun to observe!
So I edited the 58 minutes down to six minutes and spliced in ground shots of locations being flown over and added a sound track. I've probably watched the six minute version ten times now I enjoy it so much because I've hiked around about 80% of what is seen outside of the cockpit. If you pause the video you can see great details of places that you've hiked as well.
I obtained permission from video creator Mark Gruchy to publish my short version believing he was the pilot actually flying and taking the images/video. Come to find out that he's never been to Death Valley but enjoys flying into the park via his Microsoft Flight Simulator. Other users of the flight simulation app and fans of DEVA have contributed data to the app to the point that the version of today is almost better than most footage taken by actual pilots flying into DEVA.
So strap yourself into the pilots seat and fly from Vegas to Furnace Creek and see if you enjoy the experience as much as I do?
Life begins in Death Valley