Every December, as huge chunks of the world deck the halls and trim the trees, a special breed of pilot decides that standard flight patterns are beneath (pun intended) them. Because why fly a straight line when you can create Grinch sky art across the winter sky?
This holiday season, we’ve spotted not one but two ambitious attempts to paint everyone’s favorite Christmas villain (let’s keep the debate civil in the comments) across the sky. Using Flightradar24’s historical data, we can compare these aerial masterpieces and ask the important question: which Grinch is, uhm, Grinchier?
The contenders
Flight A took to the skies from Wood Country Airport of Bowling Green, Ohio. We’d like to think that the artist chose the location as it contains the word “green”, which is very fitting for the occasion. Also, we haven’t found any hard evidence to underpin this theory. The sky brush used was a Piper PA-28-140, registered as N6914W, built in 1965.
Flight B departed from Canada’s Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ/CYHZ), clearly the bigger airport of the two. Not that this will be a factor considered in our verdict, we simply point that out to fill out space. Pilot Dimitri Neonakis, representing the maple leaf nation, used a 2004 Cirrus SR22, registered as C-GZPT, when creating his festive art.
Artistic merit
Flight A took off at 17:37 UTC (12:37 local time) on December 21st and quickly found itself flying westbound, climbing towards the 6000 feet that was the mean altitude used throughout the trip. We award bonus points for making the most of the flight, as even the initial leg technically was part of the drawing, turning into part of the stairs our beloved Grinch climbed in the finished drawing. All in all this impressive piece took a total time of 3 hours and 6 minutes to draw.
Flight B chose an eastbound track, departing December 16th at 14:29 UTC (10:29 local), flying for approximately 15 minutes before putting on his beret (all true artists wear berets, so this absolutely happened) and going to work. Mister Neonakis chose another classic Grinch pose, the “straight-back-hands-resting-defiantly-by-the-waist”, and spent the majority of the flight at around 2000 feet. It took him 2 hours and 30 minutes to draw the entire thing, and we especially nod and silently applaud details such as the eyes and hands.
And the winner is
Clearly Flight B. Or no, Flight A is the one. Or… Argh! No, we will not be able to single out a winner here. Instead, and in true democratic style, we will let you, the esteemed Flightradar24 art crowd, pick your favorite and motivate your choice in the comments below.
Regardless of your preference, we here at Flightradar24 humbly tip our hat to both pilots for creating absolutely stunning pieces of sky art. Well done, bravo!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!
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