Wandering around airports

RalphInCA

RalphInCA

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Jun 1, 2014
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McMinnville, OR
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RalphInCA
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One of my great pleasures in life is to wander around GA airports to see what there is to see, and talk to other aviation enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, this is not as easy as it once was - security fences, gates and etc.

However, you can usually get through the gates if you are a little patient and follow somebody in.

I know this is not exactly legal, but how much trouble could I get in for doing this? After all, all I want to do is be friendly with people and if I am asked to leave, I will - no problem.
 
Some of them you need to code out as well, you might get stuck inside. Forget cost, the FAA, and medicals and all that crap you want GA to live you better tear down airport fences.
 
Go to the FBO or main building and meet people there? You don't need to bust through security gates to meet people. Or get an ID badge that will give you access to those gates
 
Depends on the airport, especially if it has part 121 traffic. It's always illegal and carries a rather substantial penalty, but may or may not be enforced.

Try that at Burbank, and you will be a very unhappy camper.

Trespassing on an airport is not looked kindly upon. See 49 USC 46314.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Some of them you need to code out as well, you might get stuck inside. Forget cost, the FAA, and medicals and all that crap you want GA to live you better tear down airport fences.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know you need to code out as well, but with patience this isn't a problem.

I agree with your tear down the fences comment. GA airports are very much a "private club".

And I know I can go to the FBO, but sometimes it's just fun to poke your nose in a hanger, see a guy working on his airplane and talk.

And getting getting "official access" is often more trouble than it's worth, especially if you are just visiting from another area of the country.
 
Playing stupid often works as long as you have some reason to be in the airport in general. "Oh, the FBO is back there? Sorry. Got confused with all these gates."

Rich
 
just make sure when you're doing all this exploring and well wishing to leave your keffiyeh at home......:D
 
Atleast in Florida, there is one code that works in many many of the airport doors... :)
 
True story: When I was working at JFK back in the early 1980s, one of the guys handling interline baggage that night found two little German kids wandering around the tarmac looking at the airplanes. Apparently they'd become bored and wandered off while waiting for their departing flight.

How they managed to get past security and out onto the ramp, I have no idea. Even back then, you couldn't just walk out the door and onto the ramp without at least flashing your ID pouch. I suspect that someone lost his or her job that night.

Rich
 
Personally, if I were working on my plane at my hangar, and some stranger who had no business being on the field wandered up to me and started chatting me up, I might start working my way toward the drawer I keep the big, solid, wrenches in...

It's not that I don't want to interact with people who love aviation. But...an airport is not exactly a public park....

Just sayin'.
 
Go back and read the story about the wakeboarder who got stuck out in NY harbor at night. After saving his life by paddling ashore at one of the airports there, he was arrested for trespassing.
Breaching security is a fine way to get a jail sentence, a hefty fine, or both. And if you do get off, just think of the inconvenience you'd have being arrested.
 
Maybe this is obvious but one sure way to jump the fence and get out on the ramp is to arrive by aircraft.
 
I tend to wander around airports a lot but it is usually after I landed.
Land, go check out the other planes. At my home field we have big shared hangars, I do a lot of peeking in windows to see what sort of setup people have.
 
RJM62 said:
True story: When I was working at JFK back in the early 1980s, one of the guys handling interline baggage that night found two little German kids wandering around the tarmac looking at the airplanes. Apparently they'd become bored and wandered off while waiting for their departing flight.

How they managed to get past security and out onto the ramp, I have no idea. Even back then, you couldn't just walk out the door and onto the ramp without at least flashing your ID pouch. I suspect that someone lost his or her job that night.

Rich
Click to expand...
At Hartsfield, there were certain places at which, from the passenger terminal, you could be put on the ramp within 50 feet and two doors, of which one was locked (but it was broken). In other words, you be surprised at how easy it could potentially be.
 
If you fly in, have a plane there, or any other reasonable excuse I think you'd be fine assuming it's a non-121 carrier airport.

Some friends and I had to jump a fence once to get back to our plane at the Dayton airport after the FBO closed. Nobody said anything, but I figured since I had a plane on the ramp we wouldn't have gotten in that much trouble. I wouldn't try that if you don't have a plane on the other side of the fence though....
 
Wait, if you are a pilot at a GA airport, you would be considered a trespasser?
Of course I realize there are certain exceptions (like crazy California), but I am talking most GA airports with normals.
Common sense should prevail. Seeing a police cruiser slowly peruse the hangar spaces at my airport, I wave and don't run away. I BELONG on the airport property. Now if I see a guy busting a plexi window and pulling avionics out of a plane, I WILL call the authorities, no matter whether he is a pilot or not.

If I see you, Ralph, at any of our local gated airports and you show me your pilot license, I will start chatting with you, not call security or 911. :)
 
Tell us, who belongs on a GA airport? This should be good.
Jim_R said:
Personally, if I were working on my plane at my hangar, and some stranger who had no business being on the field wandered up to me and started chatting me up, I might start working my way toward the drawer I keep the big, solid, wrenches in...

It's not that I don't want to interact with people who love aviation. But...an airport is not exactly a public park....

Just sayin'.
Click to expand...
 
Jim_R said:
Personally, if I were working on my plane at my hangar, and some stranger who had no business being on the field wandered up to me and started chatting me up, I might start working my way toward the drawer I keep the big, solid, wrenches in...

It's not that I don't want to interact with people who love aviation. But...an airport is not exactly a public park....

Just sayin'.
Click to expand...

I'm with you.

Ralph, I think what you're doing is creepy.
Come in over the fence in a plane, and the level of creepiness drops a bit - but not much, if you're creeping and peeping around the hangars instead of making conversation on the ramp or in the terminal building (aka, the common areas).

Would you walk into my house, too, if you liked the smells coming from my kitchen?
 
I think we can now tell which folks on this thread live in gated communities too.
 
When I was 7-8 years old, one of my cousin's flew out of Hicks, north of Fort Worth. It was a friendly atmosphere, most people were more than willing to show off their aircraft and bs. Went back a few times in my teens when a friend kept his Pitts there, seemed the same, people more than willing to chat about their hobby. I got my first flight in a helicopter after getting to the hanger before my friend, then catching three guys at the next hanger over arguing about who was going to grease the wheel bearings on the helicopter trailer. All 3 wearing high dollar suits. I offered a hand, and got taken up every time I saw one of them. Of course, that was a few years ago, no fence around the place back then.
 
35 years ago word on the playground was if you went to the local grass strip(Bayport) they came after you with a jeep and shooting rocksalt. I could walk to that airport I started flying out of kisp at 15. Pilots have been hiding away as little weenies for a long time. Funny and pathetic.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Tell us, who belongs on a GA airport? This should be good.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying "who belongs" and "who doesn't belong". I'm saying "what gets my guard up".

Folks who are based on a field or are transient visitors, it's pretty apparent why they're there and it doesn't seem suspicious to me. Anyone else, my first thought is going to be a wary, "Where did you come from and what do you want," not a warm, "Come on in and have a beer."

Maybe that just says I'm the suspicious jerk, but the fact is, whether you think it's a good thing or a bad thing, there *is* a fence around my home drome that basically says, "Keep out unless you've got business here." Anyone who intentionally ignores that and just shows themselves in and starts wandering around is going to invite my immediate suspicion, not my immediate admiration.
 
ClimbnSink said:
35 years ago word on the playground was if you went to the local grass strip(Bayport) they came after you with a jeep and shooting rocksalt. I could walk to that airport I started flying out of kisp at 15. Pilots have been hiding away as little weenies for a long time. Funny and pathetic.
Click to expand...

Trying to understand this post Mr. nSync

You were on the playground at age 15 and this was a time when you couldn't go to a airport because the jeep guys would shoot you? or this was a rumor that wasn't actually true? I can't tell.

"word on the playground" But you walked to it anyway or started flying out of it but.. That's just not a normal sentence what are you saying?

You fly and thus would be a pilot but unlike other pilots which are both funny and pathetic, you do not hide away as a little weenie.



everyone-is-now-dumber.jpg
 
RalphInCA said:
One of my great pleasures in life is to wander around GA airports to see what there is to see, and talk to other aviation enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, this is not as easy as it once was - security fences, gates and etc.

However, you can usually get through the gates if you are a little patient and follow somebody in.

I know this is not exactly legal, but how much trouble could I get in for doing this? After all, all I want to do is be friendly with people and if I am asked to leave, I will - no problem.
Click to expand...

I suspect you are a nice aviation enthusiast Ralph.
I may be the one who gets into trouble if you follow me in through the gate.
I have been told by airport management at Santa Maria, California (KSMX) that if someone follows me into the airport I am responsible for them and I am supposed to keep them in sight.
I often give people rides and I try to obey the rules.
The only way I am relieved of this responsibility is if I report the breach of the airport perimeter to the Santa Maria police department.
We do have part 121 operations at KSMX.
The have cameras at all of the gates with someone watching often.
One hangar tenant got in trouble for using his wife’s card to open the gate because his had expired and he was caught on camera.
San Luis Obispo (KSBA) is also kind of touchy about people without identification on the airport property.
They also have part 121 operations.
They tracked down a hangar tenant because they saw him carrying his cloths out through the gate.
I don’t feel safer because of this security and I would like it gone.
In the meantime I have to deal with the airport management, the TSA and the police department so I would be grateful if you do not follow me into the airport Ralph.
 
Jim_R said:
Personally, if I were working on my plane at my hangar, and some stranger who had no business being on the field wandered up to me and started chatting me up, I might start working my way toward the drawer I keep the big, solid, wrenches in...

It's not that I don't want to interact with people who love aviation. But...an airport is not exactly a public park....

Just sayin'.
Click to expand...

100% with you on this one. If theres a fence up and someones jumping it or piggybacking through then I would immediately call the authorities. Going to the FBO and chatting with people is one thing, breaching a fence and sneaking around is another.

And I have had to call the airport manager at my old airport. I found some guys just wandering the ramp, turns out they'd slipped under the fence and were snooping around trying to open peoples planes.
 
Vance Breese said:
I suspect you are a nice aviation enthusiast Ralph.
I may be the one who gets into trouble if you follow me in through the gate.
I have been told by airport management at Santa Maria, California (KSMX) that if someone follows me into the airport I am responsible for them and I am supposed to keep them in sight.
I often give people rides and I try to obey the rules.
The only way I am relieved of this responsibility is if I report the breach of the airport perimeter to the Santa Maria police department.
We do have part 121 operations at KSMX.
The have cameras at all of the gates with someone watching often.
One hangar tenant got in trouble for using his wife’s card to open the gate because his had expired and he was caught on camera.
San Luis Obispo (KSBA) is also kind of touchy about people without identification on the airport property.
They also have part 121 operations.
They tracked down a hangar tenant because they saw him carrying his cloths out through the gate.
I don’t feel safer because of this security and I would like it gone.
In the meantime I have to deal with the airport management, the TSA and the police department so I would be grateful if you do not follow me into the airport Ralph.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I hadn't really thought about this aspect of the airport security. But I get it. It is kind of a shame, but I get it.
 
Posting from a phone in a rush is counter to coherency. What I was trying to say is airports have been unfriendly places for a long time. Picking up a wrench cause you see a pedestrian, run Trayvon run, pathetic pilots. If your airport has a fence and gate the unwashed people own it and pay for it. And you guys want to hit them with a wrench. Awesome. The people of Santa Monica have a point.
 
RalphInCA said:
To be honest, I hadn't really thought about this aspect of the airport security. But I get it. It is kind of a shame, but I get it.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the nice response Ralph.
The "security" is a shame and puts a damper on the aviation comunity.
Perhaps I will see you at the Cable air show.
Please stop by and say hello.
I flew my white gyroplane in the air show the last two years.
I hope to fly the Red one this year.
 
During weekends while we work on the PT19 we get a ton of people stopping by, looking and asking questions. I can not remember one time that I thought a person was questionable. It's actually nice to talk to people about the planes my friends and I put 1000's of hours in.
 
Luvrv8 said:
During weekends while we work on the PT19 we get a ton of people stopping by, looking and asking questions. I can not remember one time that I thought a person was questionable. It's actually nice to talk to people about the planes my friends and I put 1000's of hours in.
Click to expand...
Right on. See folks no need for wrench swinging.
 
hmm.... I've never been to an airport that didn't serve 121 traffic and have a problem getting in. My last airport was on a joint use airport at an army base and you could just walk through the gate. You did need a card to drive in though.
 
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