Editor's Picks From 2019 Aviation Week Photo Contest

Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Seattle

The world spins below as an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900 departs George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston in January.

Jin Nakashima
Ardmore, Oklahoma

When this British Airways Boeing 747-400 was approaching London Heathrow Airport’s Runway 27L, the “Queen of the Sky” created what could have been the world’s largest heart. It could be seen as the warm heart of Joe Sutter, who designed and built what many consider one of the greatest aircraft, ever. 

Santiago Borja
Quito, Ecuador

City lights from Venezuela merge with the glow of far-off Amazonian oil wells, and the clear Milky Way glows above them, as seen from 34,000 ft. onboard a Boeing 767 flying from Europe to Ecuador.

Vladimir Voronov
Moscow

For many flight attendants, flying is more than a job; it is a dream fulfilled. This crew member definitely has her eye on flying.

Jacob Rutledge
Louisville, Kentucky

A two-image stack depicts a Boeing 757-200PF departing Louisville, Kentucky, as UPS Flight 1450 on Dec. 19, 2018, destined for Cleveland during the peak holiday season.

Jack Beyer
Los Angeles

Stratolaunch’s “Roc,” the largest aircraft in the world by wingspan, took flight for the first time on April 13. After a test flight lasting more than 2 hr., pilot Evan Thomas did this low approach before coming back around for a picture-perfect landing.

John Kraus
Satellite Beach, Florida

The fury of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is evident in this close-up photograph of the vehicle’s single RD-180 engine and five Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid rocket motors, which powered the AEHF-5 satellite to orbit on Aug. 8.

Walter Scriptunas II
Charleston, West Virginia

The Mobile Assembly Shelter rolls back to its launch position at Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg AFB, California, revealing the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy.

Ben Cooper
Orlando, Florida

Twenty-seven Merlin engines lift a Falcon Heavy off Pad 39A at the John F. Kennedy Space Center and into orbit with Arabsat 6A onboard.

Avichai Socher
Givat Shmuel, Israel

The engine exhaust and the rotor’s prop wash from an Israeli Air Force Boeing AH-64A Apache “Peten” creates art in the sky as the aircraft drops flares during the blue hour in the desert.

Avgar Idan
Rehovot, Israel

An F-15 turns above the Israeli desert.

Peter Lewis
Bruetten, Switzerland

A McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C flown by Capt. Andreas “Menkster” Menk from the Swiss Air Force’s Sqdn. 11 banks with its position lamps glowing shortly after sunset over central southern Switzerland.

Ben Ullings
Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

A farmer spraying very dry land added an extra rainbow dimension to the farewell of a Catalina PBY-5A departing the Netherlands on May 29 to join the Collings Foundation fleet. It was accompanied by four Fokker S-11 “Instructor” aircraft and a Dutch-based AT-6 Texan.

Derrick Stamos
Santa Maria, California

High-pressure waterjets blasting from a firefighting vessel frame a demonstration of a Jetpack Aviation JB10 turbojet-powered jetpack over the Pacific Ocean near Huntington Beach, California.

Julia Apfelbaum
Erie, Colorado

Mother Nature provided quite a backdrop during this stunning sunrise photo shoot. Several minutes into the flight, the rainbow appeared and added another dynamic dimension to the landscape as Allen Floyd piloted his Rutan Model 61 Long-EZ, which he has named  “Excalibur,” along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.

Mark Usciak
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

A dawn launch at the Lancaster Balloon Festival in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.

Phil Taylor
Pascoe Vale, Australia

Frank Parker flies a Bristol Scout at the Classic Fighters Airshow 2019 in Omaka, New Zealand.

Rain Brooks
Sacramento, California

A transforming dinosaur robot named Robosaurus appears to be eating the U.S. Navy Blue Angels at the California International Air Show in Salinas.

Jessica Ambats
Malibu, California

This Learjet was transformed into a rainbow to give rides to kids with serious illnesses in the Make-A-Wish program.

Jessica Ambats
Malibu, California​

TxJet’s fleet of Cessna Citations are used to transport life-saving organs to recipients in need.

Nathan Gingles
Omaha, Nebraska

A Goodyear FG-1D Corsair folds its wings in this composite image.