Dubuque photo with Chicago and Orion's Belt in the background [edited, not Des Moines]
- Thread starter Clone83
- Start date
Someone should fire up the new Microsoft Flight Simulator to solve this.
That's why I think the lights in the upper right would be Clinton and not QC. With the QC not in the frame of the image.
I was also wondering about the view to the East being obscured or refracted by clouds. I think the “horizon” is the top of a cloud bank.
I've got that, but my flight controller is a flight stick from the 1980's! Looking at getting a new one but haven't decided on one yet.
After looking at it again, it sure fits the photo better than Des Moines. What's bothersome is that Dubuque's downtown is north-south along the river and not spread out to the west. There's only residential area west of downtown until you get a couple of miles west on highway 20. But everything else really lines up nicely.
I don't think it's Dubuque because you'd see the Mighty Mississippi carving throughout. Those two circled wouldn't be in Iowa, they'd be on the Illinois side.
If this is Des Mones, I think Hwy 5 is behind the photo meaning the airport is directly below. I think the blur from the lights is giving a false sense of perspective. From this angle, the blue could be Altoona, red Bondurant...The issue is, 80 doesn't run that direction if we're looking east. As someone who lives near the airport and tries to find their house every single time...I'm really confused by this picture and I'm confused that an airplane which certainly has an accurate GPS, would be able to mess this up.
Okay here is my latest:
i think the image is almost folding up in to itself on the left side, it’s making the DSM river appear as if it’s running East/West. The blue lines represent where I think the DSM and Raccoon Rivers are in the pic.
green is where I think 235 is but it’s the worst part of the pic (maybe due to airspeed?)
Orange is Fleur drive (approximately). Yellow is Carlisle.
My final verdict for now is that the image is highly distorted around the lower edges in an upward arc from where the western edge of downtown starts.
I think this was all a test to see to make sure we aren’t becoming our parents by pointing out all these landmarks and we have all failed miserably.
I think the problem here is that the plane the pilot took the picture from was not on a treadmill, and therefore, probably not even flying.
I just showed this to a coworker that also deals with maps and aerials all day. We've come to the consensus that it's Dubuque. The blue is the river, the lights on the right are Clinton in the distance. Not familiar enough with Dubuque to really do a street layout. However, this matches well with the idea that the distant glow is Chicago and the street grid meets the proper layout. See the google earth shot.
Makes sense. I think you’ve nailed it. For someone not from Iowa Des Moines/Dubuque is all the same.
This is the winner. I am now convinced this is 100% Dubuque. Everything matches up.
