Forget fan art: This pilot drew GTA 6 across the sky with their plane
An American pilot spent more than eight hours flying over Arkansas to recreate Grand Theft Auto VI artwork using his aircraft’s flight path, less than two weeks before the game’s release.
Benjamin McDaniel, known online as «The Pilot Picasso», used a 1978 Cessna 182 Skylane RG to draw the GTA 6 logo alongside several images from the game’s promotional artwork.
The design included a woman holding a pistol, a sports car, an alligator, palm trees and a helicopter. Rather than leaving a visible drawing in the sky, McDaniel created the artwork on a digital map by following a carefully planned route.
The turns to make the alligator were the most fun to watch. Well done @thepilotpicasso. https://t.co/RFlMh800Kf https://t.co/Gz3ee7QYtJ
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 6, 2026
He took off from Bentonville Municipal Airport on 5 November at 11:29 a.m. and returned at 7:37 p.m., completing the drawing in eight hours and eight minutes.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 followed the journey and shared the finished artwork on X on 6 November.
From the Mona Lisa to GTA 6
McDaniel previously used his aircraft to recreate famous artworks, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch’s The Scream.
🎨✈️ A pilot just turned the sky into a canvas — drawing the Mona Lisa with a flight path! The incredible artwork appeared near the Oklahoma–Arkansas border, close to Tahlequah. 🇺🇸 Honestly, this might be one of the coolest flight paths we’ve ever tracked. 👀✈️ https://t.co/kkwC6hxWr0
— AirNav Radar (@AirNavRadar) September 18, 2026
His earlier projects also featured characters and scenes from Spider-Man, The Lord of the Rings and Skyrim.
The pilot plans his routes in advance, turning pictures into continuous flight paths that appear as drawings on tracking platforms.
In a previous interview, he said safety came first and that he would postpone flights if weather conditions became unsuitable.
The GTA 6 artwork appeared shortly before the game’s scheduled launch on 19 November 2026.
Rockstar Games plans to release the title for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The story follows two protagonists, Jason and Lucia, in the fictional state of Leonida, which includes a modern version of Vice City.
