Ching Chuan Kang (RCMQ) - 2009

[Lord_Manhammer]

DONT SPOT @ Ching Chuan Kang AFB, Taiwan

Hello,

beware of Spotting in Taichung at this Time!
This morning we get "arrested" for ~3,5h by the Police.
We had an Interview with the Police Pressman, two official
of the foreign affairs office and an Military Officer.
All were very friendly, but only one speak good english.
We got Tea and Water... also an Teamphoto in front of an
Taiwan Policecar.
But:
At the end we lost all pics!!!

How it happen:
We standing in the South of the Base.
In front of us an 2,5m Fence and an 4lane street.
We sitting near our car in the APP and waiting for some
AIDC F-CK-1A.
After 2h of spotting two Policecars stoped and control
or Cameras.

So please be carefull during spotting in Taiwan!
The Official said that Photos of an Beechcraft or an Mirage will
be no Problem... but does he speak the truth?
The F-CK-1A is like an "Top Secret" Jet for the Taiwan Officials,
but they was really surprised as I show them Cockpit Photos of this
Jet in Wikipedia and inflight at airfighters.


Greetings from Taiwan
Airshow-party.de Team

[SquAdmin]

What do you mean with "lost all our pics"? Did they seize your memory cards or just forced you to delete them? In the latter case, you can just undelete them at home, right?

[Lord_Manhammer]

Hi SquAdmin,

they just forced us to delete them.
I think we both now how this ends.
But we just want to inform other Taiwan fans

We leave Taichung this morning back to Taipeh.

[dutchphantom]

Where you inside or outside of your car? In the first case the police did not have the right to check your camera.

And further it is allowed to take photos of aircraft landing and taking off as long as there is no infrastructure on the photos and the photos are only for your personal use. There is a court verdict about this. But obviously not everybody knows this.

[Stefan]

And further it is allowed to take photos of aircraft landing and taking off as long as there is no infrastructure on the photos and the photos are only for your personal use. There is a court verdict about this. But obviously not everybody knows this.

If we could obtain a copy of this verdict we could make it available to anyone interested in visiting Taiwan. Would like to help with that, but am in need of some first directions on where to start.

Regards,
Stefan

[Lord_Manhammer]

And further it is allowed to take photos of aircraft landing and taking off as long as there is no infrastructure on the photos and the photos are only for your personal use. There is a court verdict about this. But obviously not everybody knows this.

I know this are rules for every AFB in the World. So we dont break the rules!
But as you can see, they really make an very big deal of that in Taichung.
So we decided to warn everbody... we are not like the other "spotter" that get cauth in
the last two monts in Taichung!

But thx for your comment

[Le Addeur noir]

It is best to maintain a low profile at this base well away from the road you describe.

Many years ago I was at this base with some Dutch spotters in a hire car,which was noticed as having Taipei plates and monitered for some days before our group was intercepted further south.

No major problem,but one of the group was induced to"volutarialy" surrender a roll of film(this was in the days prior to digital cameras).

On foot and small motercylce seems to be the way to operate here at bases.

[dutchphantom]

I know this are rules for every AFB in the World. So we dont break the rules!

This is not for every AFB in the world. Until recently it was illegal to take photos of aircraft in Taiwan. But luckily it changed, although the police does not seem to know. And in South Korea it is still illegal. And I guess there are more countries where it is illegal to take photos of airplanes.

Many years ago I was at this base with some Dutch spotters in a hire car,which was noticed as having Taipei plates and monitered for some days before our group was intercepted further south.

That was not because the car had Taipei plates. My car also has Taipei plates. It was because rental cars have plates with 2 the same letters and they are very easy to spot.

On foot and small motercylce seems to be the way to operate here at bases

That will also not work because as a foreigner you will always stand out from the rest.

Best is to stay in the car and quickly get out when an aircraft is approaching. And don't stay too long in one place because you will attract attention.

[Le Addeur noir]

worked for me on the several times I have visited Taiwan over the years.You are able to hide in places too small for a car.You could be unlucky one day,but so far,as said no problems.

On foot and small motercylce seems to be the way to operate here at bases

*
That will also not work because as a foreigner you will always stand out from the rest.

Best is to stay in the car and quickly get out when an aircraft is approaching. And don't stay too long in one place because you will attract attention.

[Key]

Some fresh experience to add. I just got back from a ten day Taiwan photo trip (where I got some support from dutchphantom ). What worked for me everywhere else in the country, worked at CCK too: stay low profile. Have been shooting landings for hours, but away from the main road and most people. Transport was a rental car, which I parked on smaller roads to either stay with it, or walk a short distance to a vantage point.

So I would say: do spot at CCK, but bear in mind our hobby is not generally accepted in the country. Using a camera makes a big difference, so think twice on where and when to show it.


Erik