Following complaints from aircraft owners over the taking and subsequent use of photographs of their stored airliners at Mojave Airport, photography by spotters on their airside tours are now firmly banned.

The airport has run tours on request for many years, giving spotters the chance to ride out to the lines of stored airliners at the desert airfield in California. This offers the chance to catch up with many older types stored here either permanently or temporarily. It can be difficult to log registrations from the perimeter road, so this tour is a major bonus.

Being able to step out of the van and take photographs at close quarters was also welcomed by spotters, but owners are apparently sick of seeing their aircraft in YouTube videos and social networking sites. It is not clear whether this is a result of malicious use, or simply enthusiasts sharing photos and videos.

The airport now encourages spotters to leave behind video and photo cameras before getting in the van to take a tour.

If after this news you are still interested in taking a tour at Mojave, you can do so by reporting to the Control Tower and asking at reception. In most cases the driver (Javier) can accommodate you for a spontaneous tour immediately.

In this time of global economic downturn, business for the storage boneyards for aircraft in the USA is booming. More and more airlines are parking aircraft, with levels not seen since the year following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Read this interesting article about Victorville, CA.

Obviously this has benefits for the spotter. Lots of older aircraft all parked up in one place. Makes playing catch-up very easy!