Fly with a skywriter to see spectacular creations in 360

Also this week, dive into a flooded nuclear missile silo from the Cold War and drop into an underground cave that’s home to an organ spanning 3.5 acres - the world’s largest musical instrument: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQgbqky0lK5GchDAgout0cYf3vlacMfwN

Fly on one of the last skywriting planes as it soars over New Orleans Jazz Festival. Learn what it takes to write text that can be miles long and thousands of feet high!

Mile-high letters, marriage proposals, and anniversary celebrations are just another day at the office for skywriter Nathan Hammond.

Hammond’s world has revolved around aviation for as long as he can remember. His father was a pilot and his mom worked at the airport. He literally grew up around airplanes. After he graduated from college, the airlines weren’t hiring so Hammond took odd jobs as a pilot. It was during this time that he learned to skywrite. He is now among a select few pilots who have mastered this fleeting art form.

See Hammond write on a canvas thousands of feet above the ground with VRtually There in the video above.

Hammond likes to think of skywriting as one epic magic trick in the sky. The audience might hear his plane, but he is effectively invisible miles above them. Incrementally, the message appears, before being scattered by the wind minutes later.

Even though the messages only exist for a short while, they can make a lasting impression.

One afternoon Hammond was flying for fun and had extra smoke on board. He decided to draw a smiley face. “As I landed I get a call from the airport. Usually that’s bad,” recounts Hammond. It was quite the opposite; a woman who had just returned from a funeral for an unexpected death was calling to express her gratitude. “The entire family was distraught. They were at the gravesite and happened to look up, and there was this smiley face,” says Hammond.

It’s moments like these that have sustained Hammond’s love for skywriting over the years.

Join Hammond for a magical flight above New Orleans in the video.

From the USA TODAY NETWORK and YouTube, it’s VRtually There, bringing you cool VR experiences each week.

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