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Thread: 5/19/12 ADW - JSOH Airshow

  1. #1
    Senior Member Cary's Avatar
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    5/19/12 ADW - JSOH Airshow

    So, I decided to go to the JSOH to get the Super Guppy, which I never seem to get when it visits PHL. I wanted to try for some clean photos, so I went early and was on the first bus. I was a little worried about my photo backpack, but their official FB page stated photo backpacks were okay, with the same size restriction as camera bags (1 cm sq ft). I asked to make sure, while waiting in line, and they said it was okay. I made it through security just fine...good stuff.

    Now the weird part - while taking pics of the C-40, a man approached me and shook my hand. He introduced himself as an officer with the on-base police. He was in civilian clothing, but flashed a badge that was concealed. He asked to see my ID, and I produced it, but asked - is there an issue? He said he noticed me standing around in the same spot, taking pics of the same plane, and the regular line about having to be careful these days. He recorded all my info in his notepad and I believe his only question was "so you live in NJ"? He was professional and apologized for the inconvenience, but I found it strange to be asked for ID for taking pictures of a plane that the military chose to display (and even let people walk through). It's not like I was taking hundreds of pictures of the F-22's engine or something. I was in the same place because I was waiting for people to move out of the way of the gear or engines, and my timestamps show I was only near the plane for 5 minutes, not all of which was the side view. I'm pretty sure other people had cameras yesterday, and spent more time near their favorite planes, so I found it to be odd.

    At the end of the show, the VC-25 was taxiing, so Fred and I tried to take pics. An officer on bike said. "no pics" and ordered us to turn around and head the opposite way. While waiting on the bus back (all buses were stopped until we got clearance to leave), we heard someone was taken off another bus for taking a pic out the window. Yet I know of at least one bus, where they were told pics were okay. Interesting stuff.
    Last edited by Cary; 2012-05-20 at 06:35 PM.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member gonzalu's Avatar
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    Classic and typical inconsistent security practices by different agencies at the same show. If you want to see how professional media relations at an Air Base works well, visit Barnes AFB where the media folks go out of their way to make sure you get the shot and very consistently make sure you get no shots of areas you're not supposed to be in. The head of media relations even gave me a ride on her golf cart on Friday before the show weekend because it was a bit far to the flight line :P

    Glad it worked out ok and you did not get escorted off base which is always worse than missing a few shots! Andrews is naturally more sensitive given the VIP there but, it [is] one of the premiere shows and should be more careful with public relations. Once the tax payers get a little upset, right or wrong, votes will count towards change, especially in an election year!
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Zee71's Avatar
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    Cary...........I think if you would have dropped and mentioned Manny's name, you would have been given the "all clear"! Nevertheless it shows the inconsistency even with security forces on base.
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  4. #4
    Member Wavefront's Avatar
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    I had a similar experience at McGuire Open House last Saturdays. I was standing very close to a F-15 taking pictures of its engine nozzles using my ultrawide lens (EF-S 10-22). While there were two or three other people also shooting the rear end of the F-15, someone in uniform asked me what I was shooting. I told him I was shooting the nozzles. We talked for a minutes or two. Before the end of our conversion, he suggested that I should not get too close to the plane and not shoot the underside of planes because certain parts of planes were sensitive with classified devices. I am not sure if this was related to my encounter with the first security, about 15 minutes later, two guys in uniform approached me, identified themselves as base security and they were doing security checks during the air show. I was carrying a 7D and a XTi with battery grip. They said "Sir, you have two cameras that look expensive." and they asked me for ID. While One of them was taking information from my ID. I had a little conversion with the other guy. "You are from New Jersey. How do you enjoy the show?" I replied "It is great. The only problem is that we will be facing the Sun when the planes doing their demonstrations. It makes taking pictures of the plane difficult while they are in the air." "Have a great day, sir" then they handed my ID back.

    I don't know that F-15's underside is "sensitive." I will be more gentle next time when I have a close encounter with a F-15.

    Here is the picture that started the whole incident.
    Last edited by Wavefront; 2012-05-20 at 10:54 PM.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Joe's Avatar
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    I heard a lot about security at this show, my experience was quite different as in there wasn't one. I did the VIP tent, which was an excellent experience, I got to park on the base and was shuttled into the show area on a golf cart with my two sons. I could have taken whatever I had wanted into the show apparently as I never even saw a security checkpoint let alone been checked.They dropped us off and we were free to explore.

  6. #6
    Senior Member megatop412's Avatar
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    That's a pretty crazy story Cary. By putting an aircraft on static display where anyone can walk right up to it, I think it's pretty low-class to then act like you're doing something wrong by taking pictures of it. If they don't want pictures taken of something then there's an easy solution- don't put it on public display. Duh.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Cary's Avatar
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    Clearly, they are targeting non-Caucasian males who are walking around alone and take more than 3 photos of any particular aircraft. I think they should have questioned the guy who had his tongue down some chick's throat, under the Super Guppy, instead.
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