Arguably the most famous photograph of a solar eclipse taken in Montana. At 8:30 a.m. on February 26, 1979, 186 FIS, 120th Fighter Group pilot Maj. Don Stevlingson and base photographer Master Sgt. Jack Carte took off from the Great Falls International Airport flying in an F-106B Delta Dart aircraft. Somewhere near Lewistown, Stevlingson aligned his aircraft with the oncoming total eclipse. Flying the jet northeast at 45,000 feet and traveling at 1,200 miles per hour the two were able to chase the eclipse for a total of five minutes. In a Great Falls Tribune interview published the next day Stevlingson said the eclipse was "One of the most spectacular things I've ever seen: a show of nature."
"They raced a shadow for precious minutes." Great Falls Tribune, 27 February 1979.