In the Saratoga Passage, Washington, there appear to be four planes flying in very close formation. Although it could just be an image overlay problem (there appears to be a seam between them) the four ‘motion ghosts’ are all in the same frame, making me believe it to be genuine.

The small, square wingspan (about 22 feet with the ruler, assuming they are flying low) makes them likely to be aerobatic planes, but I can’t identify which model, sadly.

I’m hoping this isn’t a repeat of the last time planes in formation were featured on Google Sightseeing, as it turned out to be a case of photoshop shenanigans!

Thanks to kjfitz at virtualglobetrotting.com.

This is the USS Ohio, an Ohio class submarine cruising along the US/Canada border in the Straight of Juan de Fuca. Flanked to the north and south, it looks like it has its missile tubes open, as seen in this image.

The best thing about the appearance of this sub is that it tells us that the October 07 image update has finally made it onto Google Maps! Expect lots of exciting new posts, and get submitting your sights!

More about the Ohio class submarines at Wikipedia.

Thanks: DelPeiro & pooms

Near the Oregon border, just inside Washington state, there’s a small aircraft at a very odd angle. Given that we can clearly see its undercarriage, it would seem likely that this aircraft is right in the middle of a loop the loop!

The distortion of the plane is probably due to it being near the edge of an individual photo (where the images are warped to merge them together smoothly), but no amount of distortion could reveal its underside…

Thanks to Eduardo Sao Clemente and Eric.

Driving past the small town of Cathcart is a train, carrying the fuselages of 4 Boeing 737 airliners!

As the train is passing a road I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to reference a classic Steve Martin film, so in the thumbnail below you can see Planes, Trains & Automobiles¹.

The planes started their journey at the Boeing factory in Everett and are headed for Clayton Scott Field in Renton, where they will be assembled. In 2001 it was estimated that 40% of all commercial aircraft in the air were assembled here.

Wikipedia: Clayton Scott Field, Renton, WA

Thanks: mlc1us, Ken Serack and Adam Phillabaum

Well, unfortunately the world’s largest real paper planes aren’t usually kept outside, so today we’ll have to make do with sculptures of extremely large paper planes.

in Mukilteo, Washington, Dillion Works (who specialise in creating large 3D architectural elements), claim to have the world’s largest paper plane doubling as an awning over their front door (ground level shot).

Meanwhile in Germany, we find an equally huge, but slightly more adventurous paper plane, which has come to rest on the roof of Berlin’s Tegel airport.

So, does anybody know of any more huge paper planes lying around?

Thanks to me and Frank.