moose135
2013-12-24, 07:29 PM
I had my first encounter with CMPD at CLT today!
They were up and down the 36s, making shooting from the Overview passable at best. Recently, a number of local spotters have found a spot on the road parallel to 18R/36L, near the touchdown zone of 36L. The road is lower than the airfield along there, but on the side away from the airfield fence are a series of hills. Park off the road, and climb up the hill, and you can shoot 36L arrivals. Adam S. had been there a couple of times, and when he let me know he was out there this afternoon, I joined him.
http://moose135.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Airliners-and-Airport-Spotting/Charlotte-Douglas-Airport/i-WMXqHxN/0/XL/JM_2013_12_24_N567UW_001-XL.jpg
We had been up there about an hour and a half, and I saw at least one Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police cruiser go by below us, when another CMPD cruiser pulled up behind our cars and hit the lights. We came down the hill to talk with the officer. He knew we were up there shooting pictures, and said there was nothing posted about parking or shooting from the side away from the fence, but since they had gotten a call about us, he needed to ask us to leave. He asked if we had gotten any good shots, and was very apologetic about the whole thing - he said if they hadn't gotten a call, he would not have bothered us. He even suggested we might move further down the road, closer to the approach end, as we might get some good shots there before someone else called about us...
He even said he had asked his supervisors about photographing from that side of the road, and had never gotten a straight answer. In the end, we did need to move, but he was friendly, and as I said, sorry that he had to ask us to leave. For a less than optimal outcome, it was one of the better law enforcement encounters I've had while spotting...and now I can add another agency to the list of those I've encountered!
They were up and down the 36s, making shooting from the Overview passable at best. Recently, a number of local spotters have found a spot on the road parallel to 18R/36L, near the touchdown zone of 36L. The road is lower than the airfield along there, but on the side away from the airfield fence are a series of hills. Park off the road, and climb up the hill, and you can shoot 36L arrivals. Adam S. had been there a couple of times, and when he let me know he was out there this afternoon, I joined him.
http://moose135.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Airliners-and-Airport-Spotting/Charlotte-Douglas-Airport/i-WMXqHxN/0/XL/JM_2013_12_24_N567UW_001-XL.jpg
We had been up there about an hour and a half, and I saw at least one Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police cruiser go by below us, when another CMPD cruiser pulled up behind our cars and hit the lights. We came down the hill to talk with the officer. He knew we were up there shooting pictures, and said there was nothing posted about parking or shooting from the side away from the fence, but since they had gotten a call about us, he needed to ask us to leave. He asked if we had gotten any good shots, and was very apologetic about the whole thing - he said if they hadn't gotten a call, he would not have bothered us. He even suggested we might move further down the road, closer to the approach end, as we might get some good shots there before someone else called about us...
He even said he had asked his supervisors about photographing from that side of the road, and had never gotten a straight answer. In the end, we did need to move, but he was friendly, and as I said, sorry that he had to ask us to leave. For a less than optimal outcome, it was one of the better law enforcement encounters I've had while spotting...and now I can add another agency to the list of those I've encountered!