Gallery: 2026 Aviation Week Photo Contest Early Entries

A UK Royal Air Force A400M conducts low-altitude flight training on the "Sidewinder" route, navigating through the Sequoia National Forest in California.

A JetBlue Airbus A321-231, powered by International Aero Engines V2533-A5 engines, taxis at Atlantic City International Airport after a diversion from Los Angeles International Airport.

During the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, Ryanair Flight 7920, a Boeing 737 en route from Shannon, Ireland, to Madrid, passed in front of the Sun during the partial phase while on final approach to Madrid-Barajas Airport.

This photo, featuring two U.S. Air Force Thunderbird F-16s passing each other at the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida, was taken fractions of a second after a flyby.

A Royal Australian Air Force Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet powers through a steep turn during the final golden hour. At the precise instant of exposure, one afterburner is functioning while the second remains dark—an exceptionally brief transition before both engines reach full afterburner. The following frame showed both exhausts fully illuminated, confirming this photograph captured a fraction of a second that could neither be anticipated nor deliberately recreated. The photo was shot at Mindil Beach in Australia’s Northern Territory.

Nine aircraft flew in formation past One World Trade Center during an aerial display commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4. The formation left parallel white smoke trails across the sky as it passed one of New York's most recognizable landmarks.

Kyle Fowler’s Rutan Long-EZ sliced through the night sky during the EAA AirVenture Air Show in Oshkosh, leaving behind a brilliant cascade of pyrotechnic sparks as its iconic canard silhouette lit up the sky.

During the EAA AirVenture Air Show, Melissa Burns and Skip Stewart performed a combined show that included a low-pass formation while a wall of fire burned behind them.

This photo, taken in southern Alabama, shows the “Flying Dutchman,” a 1944 Boeing A75L3 Stearman biplane. This is a light painting created from 43 separately lit images layered together and placed against the actual sunset that occurred just prior to taking the images after dark.

The silhouette of a short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft was captured before sunrise at the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida. The floodlight on the airfield provided the perfect backlight with the fog and rising Sun complimenting the beautiful lines of the aircraft.