Ladies and Gentleman, this is your First Officer speaking, my name is Felix Gottwald and I will show you the world of aviation on this website.
I hope you have made yourselves comfortable to enjoy the ride!
Aviation
Aviation has been my passion since my first flight to Tunisia on a holiday in 1992. Back then I was only six years old, but I got infected with the aviation virus immediately! From that day on I have pursued a career as a commercial pilot. Luckily I was accepted at the prestigious Lufthansa Flight School in Bremen, Germany. I piloted a small Beech Bonanza F33A single-engine propeller aircraft myself for the first time in 2006 near Phoenix, Arizona. Back in Bremen, I also flew the twin-engine Piper Cheyenne IIIA PA-42. After finishing flight school and pilot license in 2008, I joined the Airbus A320 fleet of Lufthansa based in Munich. I have accumulated more than 2.300 flight hours on Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft during that time. In 2011 I decided to try something new and changed over to Lufthansa Cargo to steer the wonderful McDonnell Douglas MD-11 out of Frankfurt.
Photography
One of the cover images produced by me and published by magazines.
Being able to travel the world gives me the opportunity to combine aviation with my second field of interest: photography. Since my early childhood I went to airports to take photos of aircraft and all this time I have been loyal to Nikon. Over the last years, my photos have appeared worldwide and here are just some examples of the companies that have used them:
* Airlines: e.g. Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, Phoenix Aviation
* Magazines: e.g. AirlinerWorld, Aero International, Key Publishing
* Manufacturers: e.g. Embraer, Cobham, Aerosoft
* Unions: Vereinigung Cockpit (German Airline Pilots Association), IFATCA
After uploading to all the major aircraft photo sites, I was invited to AirTeamImages.com (ATI) in 2013 and have since added a good number of photos to the agency’s website. Here is a link to my portfolio on the ATI page: Felix Gottwald’s images on AirTeamImages.com
“Haulin freight” – my article about a MD-11 flight was in the 12/2015 issue of AirlinerWorld
In cooperation with Hannover Airport I had my own photo exhibition Just Sky – No Limit” as an addition to their permanent display in 2015. In the same year I published an article about flying the MD-11 for Lufthansa Cargo in the well-known AirlinerWorld magazine as well.
I have been working with the Caters New Agency since 2016 and my images have been featured on the biggest UK news websites.
Don’t forget to stop by in my shop where you can by my calendars to put them in your home or office. All images on this site are available for sale or print, so don’t hesitate to contact me for a personalized quote.
Flight stats
I have accumulated nearly 4.000 flights hours as a copilot so far, covering a distance of more than 1.000.000 nautical miles – that equals more than 50 flights around the globe on the equator! Additionally there are all those private flights that I did not count, but they are many… As I travel the world I will take photos at airports worldwide and fly with airlines from all corners of our beautiful planet and you can be part of it on this website.
Do you have any questions, want to leave a comment or inquire about an image? Drop me a line on my contact page!
Media reception
Despite the fact that I publish stories and images, I have also been written about. Several newspapers and online magazines and even a radio station have produced articles and news items about me and my work as a pilot and photographer. Here is a selection of these publications (chronological order):
* Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany’s biggest national newspapers had an article about me in their 11/12 October 2014 weekend issue. Read the feature “Von oben herab” online.
* German online travel magazine Travelbook published an article about my work and my photos online on 11 November 2014. It was also promoted by the online version of Bild, Germany’s biggest national newspaper. See the full article “Die Welt aus Sicht eines Piloten” here.
* MDR Jump radio station has featured me in their ClipX series n December 2014. Listen to the 2 minute interview “Fotos aus dem Cockpit”
*Online portal bluewin.ch from Switzerland has put a photo gallery with 16 of my images online. Take a look atht eh gallery “Traumaussichten: Die schönsten Bilder von Felix Gottwald”.
* Online social travel network UNDERWAYGS interviewed me in April 2015 and posted the article on their website. Follow this link to read it: UNDERWAYGS – Über den Wolken mit Felix Gottwald
* The Stuttgarter Zeitung wrote about me in their 20 January 2015 issue. Read the article “Über den Wolken” online.
* Local newspaper Mannheimer Morgen reported about me in January 2015. The article is not available online.
* Lufthansa Cargo has published an article about me in their magazine. Here is the online version of “Auf der Jagd nach dem besten Motiv”
* The Wayfarer interviewed me for their “The Wayfarer’s Expert Traveller interview series” in summer 2015. It is available online here: “Interview with a pilot”
* The Daily Mail Online portal from the UK featured several of my pictures in February 2016. See them on their website “Cockpit photos reveal cityscapes, sprawling deserts and even a volcano”
* The same day an image of St. Elmo’s Fire that I took appeared in the Pictures of the days section of The Telegraph online. It can be found here: “Pictures of the day: 03 February 2016”
* UK’s Daily Mirror had my pictures on their website in February 2016, see them here: “Awe-inspiring pictures taken from cockpit of plane…”
* INTI Network from from South America blogged about me and my work on their website www.intinetwork.tv in February 2016
* “Why are seat rows being left empty in aircraft?” – an article called “DARUM SIND EINIGE SITZREIHEN IN FAST VOLLEN FLIEGERN IMMER LEER” was published by Travelbook in February 2016 quoting me numerous times.
Several other websites have mentioned me and my photos on their pages.
