Pilot Benjamin McDaniel spent 8 hours and 8 minutes flying a GTA VI-inspired route that appears as elaborate digital flight art on Flightradar24. The November 5 trip departed from and returned to Bentonville, Arkansas, with the resulting track forming a game-themed illustration rather than a conventional point-to-point journey.
The route incorporates the GTA VI logo alongside several visual elements associated with its setting and promotional imagery.
- A helicopter
- Palm trees
- A sports car
- An alligator
- An armed woman
Flight records identify the aircraft as N1810R, a 1978 Cessna R182 Skylane RG. The 8-hour-and-8-minute duration is listed in the aircraft’s Flightradar24 history.
A manually flown digital canvas
McDaniel, known online as “The Pilot Picasso,” plans the routes in ForeFlight using an Apple Pencil, working through headings, distances, turns and the aircraft’s limits. He has said the flights are flown solo and manually rather than being executed by autopilot.
You have one continuous line. One shot. No retakes.
Benjamin McDaniel
The artwork is not physically written in the sky like traditional skywriting. It is reconstructed from the aircraft’s digital position trail: platforms such as Flightradar24 primarily collect ADS-B transmissions carrying data including location, altitude, speed and heading, then render that information as a path on a map.
McDaniel began making flight-track art to build flying hours and maintain his skills, later producing increasingly complex designs. His previous routes have depicted well-known art and pop-culture subjects.
- Mona Lisa
- Edvard Munch’s The Scream
- Spider-Man
- The Lord of the Rings-inspired designs
- Skyrim-inspired designs
