Pilot Creates Christmas Tree Flight Path Over Florida Skies

A pilot drew a Christmas tree with his fight path over the Florida skies this holiday weekend, and flight-tracking software was able to capture the image and journey.

Flying a private single-piston Piper Dakota/Pathfinder aircraft owned by a Jacob L. Faulkner, the unidentified pilot took 1 hour and 41 minutes to fly 213 miles to draw the festive pattern, data from FlightAware.com shows. The plane took off at 12:27 p.m. EST Sunday.

It launched from Florida’s Punta Gorda airport and landed back there at 2:08 p.m. EST, flight data shows. The Christmas tree drawn by the plane’s flightpath can be seen on FlightTracker.com and it even features a star on top. 

Going by FlightAware’s data, the drawn tree is about 25 miles tall, drawn north to south, and a little over 15 miles wide, drawn east to west.

The Piper Dakota Pathfinder aircraft seats four and has a top speed of 170 miles-per-hour, according to Plane and Pilot Magazine. 

“In 1979, Dakota became the name of Piper’s 235-hp four-seater,” Plane and Pilot Magazine explains. “The Dakota boasts more useful load and range plus a shorter takeoff distance and faster cruise than any plane in its class.”