It's Lonely at FL850

[wckorb 34]

[sascha 314]

Wow!

[ryanbatc 12,804]

Forgot about that plane, nice shots!

[HighBypass 2,339]

Alone, unarmed... and unafraid!

[EuroTruckGuy 0]

WOW, are those the Rocky Mountains?

[regis9 4,001]

No traffic advisories up there!

[Gabriel Teles 172]

I guess you can see the stars very clearly from up there...

Nice shots!

[Bartolomeus 34]

Really nice shots!

[Bill Griffith 160]

I bet you are lonely up there.  :smile:  Great shots.  How did that go ...  SR-72 pilot requesting 50,000 feet.  Permission granted by ATC.  Pilot's reply, "Roger, descending to 50,000 feet."

[HLJames 2,568]

Great looking shots from high altitude!

 

HLJAMES

[flyerkg 62]

I bet you are lonely up there.  :smile:  Great shots.  How did that go ...  SR-72 pilot requesting 50,000 feet.  Permission granted by ATC.  Pilot's reply, "Roger, descending to 50,000 feet."

I once had an instructor who told the class he heard a similar call  requesting FL600 and ATC laughed and replied You're cleared if you can get that high. Then the pilot responded with leaving FL800 for FL600.

[Bill Griffith 160]

Hi Keith,

"I once had an instructor who told the class he heard a similar call  requesting FL600 and ATC laughed and replied You're cleared if you can get that high. Then the pilot responded with leaving FL800 for FL600."   Yes, not the usual conversation with ATC.  :smile:

 

Bill

[ryanbatc 12,804]

This high altitude topic made me think of something comical but sad.  A few years back there was a U2 operating VFR on top in ZLA - above FL600 (los angeles center airspace), ATC put the altitude into the flight progress strip as OTP (which is standard entry for VFR on Top) and it crashed ERAM (it's a computer system that basically works with ATC radar and the NAS).  ZLA was ground stopped for some time (meaning no traffic in the airspace at all).

[wckorb 34]

Thanks for all the comments! 

I once had an instructor who told the class he heard a similar call  requesting FL600 and ATC laughed and replied You're cleared if you can get that high. Then the pilot responded with leaving FL800 for FL600.

That reminds me of a joke that Rod Machado told a while back: https://youtu.be/fQUg9VmPBBE?t=6m31s

WOW, are those the Rocky Mountains?

Sierra Nevada mountains, that lake in the second shot is Mono Lake

[HighBypass 2,339]

Similarly there was a conversation between an RAF Lightning pilot (mach 2 interceptor made by English Electric) and ATC. The controller asked the pilot if he could make flight level 350 by the coast. The Lightning pilot complied with the instruction and the controller radioed back after watching the numbers on the scope... "Actually, I meant by the French coast, not the English coast...."