Daily Photo – Desert Takeoff

I recently came across this image of our re-supply DeHavilland Twin Otter in a desert takeoff from our camp air strip in the Haruj area of Libya. The Haruj is a large volcanic field in central Libya and contains the remains of about 150 volcanoes. In most places the black basalt gravel covering overlays a fine yellow sand – even gypsum in some places. Breaking the surface of the basalt gravel would send up choking clouds of fine dust such as the cloud raised in this takeoff. The image would have been taken in 1991 and is from a burst sequence of nine. I don’t have any of the underbelly of the aircraft so I’m guessing I ducked!