An American pilot has drawn GTA 6 in the sky. Benjamin G. McDaniel III, known online as “The Pilot Picasso”, flew a 1978 Cessna 182 Skylane RG over Arkansas for more than eight hours, tracing the Grand Theft Auto VI logo and artwork from the game’s official cover with his flight path. The flight ran from November 5 into November 6 and could be followed live on Flightradar24.
With GTA 6 less than two weeks from launch, it is one of the more unusual fan tributes so far. You cannot see the drawing from the ground. It only appears on the flight-tracking map, where the plane’s route turns into a picture.
Eight hours over Arkansas to draw one cover
McDaniel took off from Bentonville Municipal Airport in north-west Arkansas, according to Beebom. Over the course of the flight, his track recreated the GTA 6 logo along with details from the cover art: a woman holding a pistol, a sports car, an alligator, palm trees and a helicopter at the top.
Every line in a drawing like this has to be planned in advance and flown precisely. One wrong turn shows up on the map for good. McDaniel has described the work as a single attempt, telling Rotate Pilot in an earlier interview that “you get one shot”.
From the Mona Lisa to Jason and Lucia
GTA 6 is not McDaniel’s first big subject. He has previously traced the Mona Lisa over Oklahoma, Edvard Munch’s The Scream over Missouri, and Spider-Man, which made him a familiar name in GPS art circles.
A video game is a fun change of pace from classical paintings, and there are few games with more pull right now than GTA 6.
Rockstar had nothing to do with it
As far as anyone can tell, this was a fan project. Rockstar Games has not commented on the flight, and there is nothing to suggest it was part of the game’s marketing. That makes it a nice reminder of how far GTA fans will go after more than a decade of waiting.
If you want to see the result, the flight history is on Flightradar24 under McDaniel’s aircraft. For more fan and community moments before launch, see how Miami nightclubs are turning into GTA 6 venues and the latest GTA 6 screenshots from Rockstar. GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
