Google Maps & Yellowstone NP

[AustinBoston]

I was briefly searching the satellite view of Yellowstone National Park for Bison (I know, like a needle in a haystack), and came across this remarkable capture of a Boeing 747 flying over Yellowstone NP.

747 over Yellowstone

If all you see is a map (or a blank green screen), clikc the "Satellite" or "Hybrid" button in the upper right.

The discolored "shadows" are not really shadows, and are probably because of parallax issues with the satellite.

Austin

[JimQPublic]

Most ex-presidential candidates just write a book to occupy their time.

[joe]

The satellite images are not real time. Most of the images are years old.

Look up your address and see if you can identify things around your house, like cars. Then remember when you had that car. The image of my house shows a car parked in the driveway that I sold 6 years ago.

I thought big national parks, such as Grand Canyon and Yellowstone were no fly zones, to cut down on noise pollution or study the effects of noise pollution


joe

[AustinBoston]

I thought big national parks, such as Grand Canyon and Yellowstone were no fly zones, to cut down on noise pollution or study the effects of noise pollution

Two or three NP's are no-fly zones (I think that includes Yellowstone), but only below a certain altitude.  At one time, the zones were voluntary, I don't know if they still are.  Most likely, that plane is over 40,000 feet, and perhaps as high as 60,000 feet.

At those altitudes, it would have to be very quiet for you to hear it.

Austin

[6Quigs]

Joe,
Yes, those satelite imags can be years old.
The image for your house house was taken on 4/10/2002.

The one for my house was taken on friday 2/27/04, and my truck and the trailer are not at home, because we were camping at Olema that weekend!!!

The images on maps.live.com for the birds eye view are only a couple of years old, because my neighbors pool is included as well as the construction of some local buildings.

Google's street view are all less than 12 months old

[CajunCamper]

Two or three NP's are no-fly zones (I think that includes Yellowstone), but only below a certain altitude.  At one time, the zones were voluntary, I don't know if they still are.  Most likely, that plane is over 40,000 feet, and perhaps as high as 60,000 feet.

At those altitudes, it would have to be very quiet for you to hear it.

Austin

I doubt Yellowstone has a no fly zone, remember Grand Tetan National Park which is just a few miles due south of Yellowstone has a public airport within the park that can accomidate very large passenger jets there. When we were there last year Air Force II was there while the VP was visiting his home just outside of the park.

CajunCamper

[AustinBoston]

Since it keeps coming up, I thought I would look it up.

http://skyvector.com/#28-10-2-6202-1150

This links to the Salt Lake City sectional, a kind of map used by most general aviation aircraft.  It should center on the Jackson Hole, WY airport at Grand Teton National Park.  If you scroll up, you can find the lower half of Yellowstone National Park.  The largest numbers are "Maximum Elevation Figures" shown in thousands and hundreds of feet, so that:

107

would be 10,400 feet above MSL.  (Note: smaller number is superscript on map) This is means that within an area marked off by "ticked lines" there is a feature that reaches that altitude; there may be a safety factor built in to cover variability in altimiter readings.  The highest elevation for the southern part of Yellowstone reaches up to 12,000 feet.

The "No Fly" zone for certain National Parks and Forests can be found in the far lower left corner of the sectional, but distilled comes down to this:

• Landing is illegal, except NPS business, emergencies, and prior permission
• No-fly exists 2000 feet above any terrain that is within 2000 feet sideways
• No-fly exists 2000 feet above the rim of any valley or canyon
• No-fly is voluntary
• The NPS or Forest Service property has to be marked for no-fly to exist, marking is a solid line with a single row of round dots next to it. (both Yellowstone and Grand Teton are marked along with some NFS properties, but Flagg Ranch is not)

The sectional also shows the only runway at Jackson Hole to be 6,451 feet.  It might take a DC-9, but most airliners can't land on a runway that short.  There is no way the 747 in my original link could safely land there.

Google Earth shows the straight-line distance between the south entrance of Yellowstone NP and the Jackson Hole airport to be about 36 miles.  The distance from the North entrance to the airport is 98 miles.  Even in a jumbo jet, that's far enough to effect huge (30,000-60,000 feet) changes in altitude.

Austin

[CajunCamper]

The sectional also shows the only runway at Jackson Hole to be 6,451 feet.  It might take a DC-9, but most airliners can't land on a runway that short.  There is no way the 747 in my original link could safely land there.
Austin

I guess it depends on the pilots and the jets themselves. Air Force II is a modified 757 and it flys into Jackson Hole on a regular basis. The Baton Rouge Airport's longest runway is about 6900 feet and I have personally seen Air Force One land and take off there on a couple of occasions. Of Course Air Force One and Two are not your typical jets and the crew flying them are the best qualified pilots in the world.

I was amazed to see AF1 land and take off with plenty of runway to spare.

CajunCamper