There are places to shoot aircraft going in and out of McGuire, but they are too far away from the base and the spots WILL get you stopped by military and local police in a heartbeat. During the summer of 2005 I spotted in a shopping center's parking lot when Runway 36 was active and had a couple people call the cops on me while shooting KC-10s, KC-135s, and a lone C-17 departing 36. Luckily for me I had left before any cops showed up because I knew I was going to get into some trouble.

There used to be a great spot to catch departures from 24, arrivals to 36 and 6 and departures from 18 (cemetary along Texas Ave) but to get to that spot today, you'd have to go through a military checkpoint. McGuire does get pretty active at times...

NAS/JRB Willow Grove is good and the local cops don't mind people spotting, as long as you know the locals who spot there as well. The military police, on the other hand, will not let you spot at all. I know someone who has almost gotten arrested for taking pictures and video along 611 of Super Hornets departing the base... oh and Willow Grove is not very active at all!

NAS Oceana... oh that base is ALWAYS active! It's a shame it's all Hornets and Super Hornets now. I haven't gotten hassled at any of the spots around the base as of yet (knock on wood).

Langley AFB... can be active at times (when launching or recovering based aircraft) and then real dead in the other times. Last time I spotted there (March 2006), a huge flight of F-15s and F-22s took off, were gone for an hour or so, and then came back. There's only one good spot at Langley, and its only good for 8 arrivals and 26 departures (though you can watch 8 departures really easily!). Since the Raptors came to the base, I've heard horror stories from people who were harassed by AF Police and Hampton Police, but that hasn't happened to me yet.

DO NOT SPOT AT MILITARY BASES ON WEEKENDS, unless there is an ANG unit that has a drill weekend, because there will usually be no flying on the weekends.

I think spotting at Navy bases is a lot easier and more hassle-free than at Air Force Bases... and with Oceana, its not "oh I just got a Hornet, now I don't need the other Hornets" - remember there's more than a dozen squadrons that could very well be at the base at any given time.