Thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show 2023

[Stratotanker]

Anyone else get hassled by SF for having a zoom lens "longer than 12 inches?" Was caught completely off guard seeing that on the prohibited items list upon walking in. I got held up by three of them at the gate over bringing mine in - I only made it through by lying and enabling the zoom lock which kept it right at the limit. From a few of the attendees I talked to, some SF personnel were even using tape measures and turning people away.

First show I attended with this rule. Was this to convenience casual attendees annoyed by camera setups? Security concern? Gotta be honest, this policy is borderline nonsensical considering I've been to more "sensitive" bases like Nellis and not even those installations had something like this in place for their shows.

[passedgas46]

Anyone else get hassled by SF for having a zoom lens "longer than 12 inches?" Was caught completely off guard seeing that on the prohibited items list upon walking in. I got held up by three of them at the gate over bringing mine in - I only made it through by lying and enabling the zoom lock which kept it right at the limit. From a few of the attendees I talked to, some SF personnel were even using tape measures and turning people away.

First show I attended with this rule. Was this to convenience casual attendees annoyed by camera setups? Security concern? Gotta be honest, this policy is borderline nonsensical considering I've been to more "sensitive" bases like Nellis and not even those installations had something like this in place for their shows.

I wasn't at the show so I can't speak from personal experience there, BUT, I have been to several airshows where security have tried to enforce some sort of rule when it comes to cameras without giving a valid reason. It never affects me since I don't carry a camera with me. I've been hassled at military bases (NAS Oceana being one of them, and I think that was the year they tried to enforce a lens rule and ended up rescinding that) a few times for bringing binoculars. SF might have been on some sort of "heightened alert" given the timing of this airshow, and it wouldn't surprise me if they used that as an excuse.

Based on what I've read on these forums and others in the know, two other airshows (one military, one civilian) tried to pull a long lens prohibition and both rescinded it.

[runningmovies]

Anyone else get hassled by SF for having a zoom lens "longer than 12 inches?" Was caught completely off guard seeing that on the prohibited items list upon walking in. I got held up by three of them at the gate over bringing mine in - I only made it through by lying and enabling the zoom lock which kept it right at the limit. From a few of the attendees I talked to, some SF personnel were even using tape measures and turning people away.

First show I attended with this rule. Was this to convenience casual attendees annoyed by camera setups? Security concern? Gotta be honest, this policy is borderline nonsensical considering I've been to more "sensitive" bases like Nellis and not even those installations had something like this in place for their shows.

I wasn't at the show so I can't speak from personal experience there, BUT, I have been to several airshows where security have tried to enforce some sort of rule when it comes to cameras without giving a valid reason. It never affects me since I don't carry a camera with me. I've been hassled at military bases (NAS Oceana being one of them, and I think that was the year they tried to enforce a lens rule and ended up rescinding that) a few times for bringing binoculars. SF might have been on some sort of "heightened alert" given the timing of this airshow, and it wouldn't surprise me if they used that as an excuse.

Based on what I've read on these forums and others in the know, two other airshows (one military, one civilian) tried to pull a long lens prohibition and both rescinded it.

That was the year at Oceana where they made anyone with a "long lens" have to submit paperwork for a special pass. Took hours standing in line to get said pass, and it was so bad that they gave it up nearly right away. The man working at the security office was pissed that he had to processes all the base guest passes. Thankfully as I said they dropped that quick.