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Aerial Photography at Marana Pinal Air Park

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  • Aerial Photography at Marana Pinal Air Park

    Hi everybody,
    I have seen plenty of aerial pictures here showing the stored aircraft at Marana Pinal Air Park. I'll be in Tucson in July and I was wondering if anybody on here has any advice on how to take pictures at Marana from the air. Any information and advice will be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to your input.
    Peter

  • #2
    Peter,

    My advice would be to contact the photographers directly and see what they did. I spent 5 years living in AZ, attending a school that specialized in Aerospace/Aeronautics and spotting for almost 3 years, and I've never heard of doing aerial shots at Marana (or DMA). It's been mentioned that it has been done, but I don't think any of my friends ever did it, or talked about it (and I hung out with a few pilot-photogs).

    What I've heard is that land access to MZJ is nearly non-existent, and that apparently there's an airport cafe/restaurant that is accessible by car, but you have to get to the airport guard shack and state several times that "this is a public facility and I have the right to go to the cafe", and eventually the guards will get tired and let you go. However, I never verified this, nor was willing to do so, I did drive towards the airport (years before I heard about that), and I can tell you that you can't really get any close from the perimeter (unlike VCV, GYR, or even DMA for that matter).

    I have also heard that if you fly to the airport , you can get shots from the plane as you taxi to/away from the ramp, but supposedly you will get yelled at if you shoot from the ramp.
    [SIGNATURE GOES HERE]

    Felipe Garcia

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    • #3
      [QUOTE=Felipe Garcia;618626]
      What I've heard is that land access to MZJ is nearly non-existent, and that apparently there's an airport cafe/restaurant that is accessible by car, but you have to get to the airport guard shack and state several times that "this is a public facility and I have the right to go to the cafe", and eventually the guards will get tired and let you go. However, I never verified this, nor was willing to do so, I did drive towards the airport (years before I heard about that), and I can tell you that you can't really get any close from the perimeter (unlike VCV, GYR, or even DMA for that matter).



      I tried just driving to the gate with a couple of other spotters, the armed guard at the gate was not welcoming at all, he said that it was a private facility….I was also told that if I wanted to look at aircraft, I should visit the museum at Davis Monathan AFB a few miles further east.

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      • #4
        Ok, so then that doesn't work and you need a plane (Even if it's a private facility, the airfield itself is still public).
        Out of curiosity, did you mention what your intentions were?

        I must admit I always wanted to fly there (well, fly passenger, since I don't have a PPL), but round trip from Prescott it would have been kind of expensive for being on a college student budget.
        [SIGNATURE GOES HERE]

        Felipe Garcia

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        • #5
          I did this in 2005. We hired a plane (Cessna 150/180 type) from Tucson Int. and did a circuit of DM followed by a landing and taxi back at Marana, shooting out the window. Although I have heard that they have stopped others doing this recently. Think now you do an approach or touch and go.

          HTH

          Graham

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          • #6
            Can You Walk Around the Fence?

            Is it possible to walk or drive around the outside fence of the airport?

            In April 2014 I drove up to the booth and saw no one inside. The gate was open (if there was one), there were no signs that seemed to state for me to stop so I drove on through.

            There were numerous signs saying no photography so I never pulled out my camera.

            I drove down a main street and saw several military personal doing physical exercises. I began to get spooked thinking that I was actually on a military base.

            My inner voice kept saying I shouldn't be there especially with out of state license plates and my tendency to oooh and ahhh over everything I saw.

            So I drove right back out again after spending 10 about minutes inside. It was pretty cool to have seen though!

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            • #7
              That is very weird because I've always been told that security is very tight. I did notice that when I tried to find roads near the airport to get photos.

              There is a gate and it's usually manned.

              There are no public roads surrounding the airport, Trico Rd is the closest and it's still way too far away to get anything useful. There are dirt roads around, but they are not marked, so most likely farm access roads and residential driveways. Given that the area is kind of a hot spot for for smuggling drugs and people, I'd be very careful about straying off property that is visibly public.

              I have driven the roads around Coolidge and public dirt roads are all marked, so that reassures my assumption that those roads are not public.
              [SIGNATURE GOES HERE]

              Felipe Garcia

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