The following photos were taken on a recent flight from Austin to Los Angeles, in Mid-October 2006. The flight path took us almost directly over downtown Austin, affording us some fantastic views of the city and points westward... So without wasting any time, here ya go...
Taking off from Austin Bergstrom International (Southeast side of the city) ... State Highway 71 passes below us, heading eastward toward Houston.
Mueller Airport redevelopment of central Austin. The old Control Tower sits by itself on the right side of the complex. On the far left you can make out the new Dell Childrens Medical Center
Closer shot of the Dell medical center, with the I-35/290E interchange beyond. You can also make out the new retail center going up immediately to the left of the med center
Now the University of Texas Campus is visible
The Capitol and UT
All of Downtown Austin becomes visible
Frost Tower and neighbors. Town lake at the bottom left
zoom zoom
Downtown, Mopac Expressway, and the Colorado River beyond
Austin's rapidly densifying West-End district
Pan out
Winging it
Zilker Park, Colorado River and Rollingwood/Westlake inner-suburbs
Mopac Expresway, heads north through the heart of West Austin
Zilker Park and Mopac Expressway
Inner suburb of Rollingwood
Mira Vista development along Bee Cave Rd, at Mopac
Mopac Expressway office buildings
Loop 360 and affluent Westlake Hills suburb.
Closeup of Westlake High School, known regionally as the launching pad for Saints NFL QB Drew Brees.
More Westlake
Tom Miller Dam and Lake Austin beyond (Colorado River)
Loop 360 snaking through the pricey suburbs of W Austin
Barton Creek Resort
The village of Bee Cave, rapidly becoming the commercial center for far W Austin and Lake Travis suburbs.
Highway 71 and Bee Cave Rd (Hwy 2244)
The emerging Hill Country Galleria retail center and residential complex in Bee Cave, along TX71, between highways 620 and 2244.
Falconhead, Lake Travis High School and Lakeway (along south shore of Lake Travis)
Lakeway and Lake Travis, with its barren shoreline, beyond (Lake level is very low due to recent drought conditions)
Lake Austin and Steiner Ranch development beyond
Winging it some more
The "Sometimes Islands" in the main basin of Lake Travis have become a peninsula of late. The 'islands' are completely submerged during normal conditions.
And like that, central texas began to disappear behind a thick layer of clouds...
Hope you enjoyed... I'll be posting additonal pics soon, from points westward... including the Guadalupe Mountains, Las Cruses, NM, Phoenix, AZ and LA, in other threads.