Please be careful on your travels

[GOOSE]

Ladies and Gents, not all overseas authorities understand our hobby.

Photography and the taking of serials is very often misunderstood.

Please be careful on your travels.

[MacksAviation]

Is there a reason for so many reminders Goose ?
Has something gone down I've not heard about ??
Or are you just being public spirited tonight because its so quite

[T_J]

A British citizen, Julian Swift, was recently arrested in South Africa.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/C ... ?id=131146" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TJ

[MacksAviation]

Ahh thanks TJ

Stay in the UK or The Netherlands your pretty safe in both when using a scanner and/or photographing aircraft

[GOOSE]

One post in Europe, one in Rest of the World.

But you know me, like to help people out where I can...........

[T_J]

No problem, Mack.

TJ

[POL]

Remember, Turkey aren't too keen on spotters. If you decide to visit a couple of bases on the way to Izmir, chances are you'll be shot. Or arrested, which is probably worse...

[Northsky]

Maybe we should compile a list of countries that have arrested spotters ?

Europe Greece Turkey France occasionally i saw someone taken away at CDG with a radio he did not return for the rest of the day Russia ? confiscation of lists by zealous officials at Zhukovsky show.

Any more offers ?

Dave

[DanSeaman]

Greek Air Force Bases or civilian bases when there are military present are very strict! I know this from eight visits to Greece! So it's not a moan it's just advising to check before you go!

[Mictheslik]

Even if the country is OK with you being there and taking photos, scanners are almost always a bad idea.....it always amazes me when stories like that crop up....probably wouldn't be in court if he hadn't been using a scanner....

.mic

[sschofield]

Oddly enough we (a group of 4 seasoned spotters) got substantially jostled at Coleman Barracks in Germany late last year.

For those that know the area, we had just arrived on the track next to the fence (the one with lots of handy pole-sized holes all the way along!), parked away from the fence and were just getting stuck into reading off the UH-60s when a pick-up truck approached at speed. Out leapt 2 civilian security guards, who demanded to know what we were doing. We explained we were serial spotters, whereupon the female security gaurd gasped and said "But zis is verboden in Germany". I laughed (bad idea!) and said "Why? It's only the American Army", to which she repeated "It is NOT ALLOWED!" OK, OK, we get the idea. She then radioed in German, and then asked to see passports, which were duly produced.

10 minutes or so later an American MP arrived, and we repeated the process. He took our passports and radioed the details in. After around 20 minutes he asked to see our log, which I gave him. He said he needed to keep it, which we said was fine (numerous copies had already been stored in our brains for later use!), and he then radioed for the local Polizei, who arrived around 20 minutes later. When they arrived, we went through the process AGAIN, after which the Polizei Sergeant (or whatever they are in Germany!) made it quite clear to both the security guys AND the MP the he thought they had wasted his time, and that we were free to go. All very well, but around an hour and a half wasted, and our return flight from Hahn (look it up on a map, it's a fair distance!) was starting to look a little less likely!

You live and learn I guess!

Stuart