Ohio Man Spreads Christmas Cheer With Holiday-Themed Artwork Covering Hundreds of Miles

Some of Timothy Pearson’s latest artwork includes a 500-mile nativity scene and a 300-mile Grinch created with his plane’s flight path.

Timothy Pearson outlined a nativity scene over Ohio airspace. This drawing took more than five hours to finish, spanning 506 miles. Flightaware.com/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

An Ohio man is creating Christmas-inspired artwork that takes hours to complete, spanning hundreds of miles, yet it remains invisible to those who don’t know how to see it.

Timothy Pearson, an Air Force veteran, has lived in Northwest Ohio most of his life. He only became a private pilot about 5 1/2 years ago, as flying in the military wasn’t his destiny, he said, but two years ago he decided to put his newfound skill to the test.

“I decided to try to make some crazy patterns and then look them up online when I got back,” Pearson told The Epoch Times. “Then it just sort of clicked in my head that, ‘Oh, I can draw pictures that most people aren’t going to see!’”

Pearson joined the Eagle Air Flying Club at Wood County Regional Airport, where he mostly flies solo with his single-engine 1965 Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee to create his enormous artwork.

FlightAware is a website with a flight-tracking feature that shows commercial and private planes or helicopters across the world in real time. It also provides information on flight history, aircraft type, engine type, speed, altitude, where it departed from, where it’s going, and the owner of the aircraft.

On the website, it also shows the flight path of an aircraft marked by lines.

This is how Pearson views his gigantic, invisible-to-the-naked-eye creations in the sky. Some of his latest work includes a nativity scene and the Grinch.

“It fit the season. It was perfect, and I had a couple of friends I thought would really appreciate it,” Pearson said about his nativity scene flight path. “And then the Grinch, I’ve always been a fan of the Grinch, so I wanted to get that one snuck in there as well.”

Pearson’s nativity scene took five hours and three minutes to complete, spanning a total of 506 miles. The Grinch’s outline, creeping up the stairs and complete with a Santa Claus hat, took him three hours and six minutes to finish, covering 311 miles.

“The original Dr. Seuss Grinch. Not that I have anything against the Jim Carrey Grinch, but I’m old school. I like the original Dr. Seuss. That is my favorite,” Pearson said when explaining his inspiration for the classic, grumpy Christmas character.

Inspired by Christmas and his love for Dr. Seuss’s the Grinch, Timothy Pearson brought it to life. This drawing took more than three hours to finish. Flightaware.com/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

The Ohio Air Force veteran doesn’t simply hop in his plane and start flying, winging his drawings as he goes. Pearson said that safety for himself and other aircrafts is the first priority, so it takes quite a bit of planning before he can create his next piece of art.

“I won’t give away all my secrets, but I literally hand draw them on sectionals. I make sure they’re not going to interfere with any airspace, make sure they’re in low traffic areas if I can. I try to pick altitudes where I’m not going to have traffic,” Pearson said.

He stays in constant contact with any nearby airports to let them know he’s in the vicinity.

“I’m out here, and I’m going to be loitering for a while,” Pearson said he tells air-traffic controllers.

Timothy Pearson said he just runs with an idea on a drawing when it comes to him. This one depicts a “Whiskey Girl.” Courtesy of Fly by Night

Not only has he been inspired by Christmas for some of his drawings, but Pearson has also tested his flying skills with other complex drawings.

“I was with the Air Force myself with the red horse unit, so I actually did my unit’s logo and stamped it over top of a different Air Force unit flight area, sort of just a gotcha thing,” Pearson said. “So it was the 200th Red Horse logo stamped over top of the 180th. ... Their military operating area.”

Timothy Pearson created this massive drawing of the logo of the 200th Red Horse unit. Creating his artwork can take several hours. Courtesy of Fly by Night

In good faith, Pearson said he also drew the 180th unit’s logo over their home airport, the Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport in Swanton, Ohio.

Pearson creates massive artwork with his single-engine plane, like this logo for the 180th Fighter Wing unit. Courtesy of Fly by Night

Other drawings Pearson has flown and posted on his Facebook page, Fly by Night, include a hot-air balloon, helicopter, “whiskey girl,” and spelled-out “F-bomb.”

Pearson praised the people around him in his life, including the Eagle Air Flying Club, for his development as a pilot and pursuit of creating colossal-sized artwork, he said.

“It’s all been positive and appreciative. So I can’t say enough good things about the people. The aviation community as a whole is very, very friendly and open-armed,” Pearson said. “The new airport manager at Wood County, as well as his entire staff, who are just fantastic and friendly and helpful in every way, shape, or form.”

This hot-air balloon was dedicated to one of Pearson’s friends. Courtesy of Fly by Night

He told The Epoch Times he never imagined he would gain any publicity from pursuing his passion and practicing his skills in a unique way.

“What it comes down to is, I love to fly, so any excuse I can make to get up there,” the Ohio pilot said. “I fully admit, when it comes to drawing, I am terrible at it, like it takes me forever to draw these things out, because ... I have no artistic inclination when it comes to hand drawing stuff. But I get up in the air and it’s a little different. I’m comfortable with it.”

With his most recent creations of the nativity scene and the Grinch, Pearson hoped to spread Christmas spirit.

“There will be more coming,” Pearson said. “I just hope everybody appreciated it, enjoyed it. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and just spread the love and joy.”