Above shots taken along runway 5R, with about 30% zoom.

If you are in the Hampton Roads area and you love military aviation, you will love to be around several of the military bases in the area. In fact, there are three prestigious military bases that are home to the finest fighters in the Air Force and Navy's inventory. NAS Oceana, which is covered here, is one of the best places to spot at, in terms of action, variety, and time/quantity. As far as I know, no other base in the area can have a lot of activity in a short period of time than Oceana does (unless its a wartime period and/or hurrivacs are taking place) on a regular basis.

The above map, with modifications, was provided by Google Earth.

About the Spots and What You Will See

Spot A:  This is the most popular spot at NAS Oceana.  It is located along Oceana Boulevard where it bends to the right (as you go south from 264), with the spot being on your left.  Get in the left lane on Oceana Boulevard and into the left turn lane and turn at the municipal area.  Park as close to the fence as you can so you are not blocking any activities that do go on over there.  That spot will give you a great view of 23L and 23R approaches as well as departures off 5L and 5R, although you will need a large lens to capture the activities off the 5s.  Don't bother trying to get landings from the 5s here.  If you park here and the 23s are active, aircraft will fly right over your head pretty low for 23L and you will get a nice side shot for 23R, and you can park and walk south no more than another 300 feet alongside Oceana Boulevard to get some side shots, if at all possible.  You don't need anything more than 300 mm for this spot.  Be very careful with taking pictures here because there are a lot of power lines that you will have to deal with.

Spot B:  This is the second-most popular spot at Oceana.  If you are following First Colonial Road south as it turns into Oceana Boulevard, turn right at the next light past Virginia Beach Boulevard (US 58) and follow the road until it makes a very sharp right turn, where it becomes Potters Road.  Follow Potters Road about a mile or so and you will see a gravel area to your right where you can pull off the road and watch and take pictures from.  You get very close to 14L and 14R approaches and you don't really need anything more than 300 mm for here.  If you have a tailgate, you can get up on it and get an overview of the two runways, and get some great shots of the planes are taking off from 14R.  You can get very very distant views of landings on the opposite end of the runway - the 32s, and you get some great shots of them taking off from the 32s as well.  As a word of caution, you'll want to pull off and face the runways AND be at least five feet away from Potters Road for your own safety.  Cars and trucks love to fly down that section at over seventy miles an hour.  You will also see vehicles use that area to make U-turns, so be aware of that.

Preliminary reports have suggested that a guard rail was put up along Potters Road along the spotting area, but as of March 14, 2006, Spot B can still be reached by car.  However, the city of Virginia Beach has posted four signs stating that there is to be no trespassing or loitering around the area.  That could be interpreted in two ways.  There is a gated area between where the signs are posted that could suggest that one cannot go beyond that gated area.  The other way would be to suggest that spotters and photographers are no longer allowed at the spot, which would deal a huge blow to everyone.  I would strongly suggest that you call the city of Virginia Beach and ask about that spot before making your way over there.

Spot C:  This is a spot that all Virginia Beach and Navy Police Officers suggest that you watch from, why, I don't know.  This is the Flame of Hope Memorial, which is shaded and prevents you from watching arrivals to the 32s, but you can kind of see 32L and 32R departures for a few seconds, as they begin their takeoff roll.  There is a dedicated parking lot and a dedicated place to turn off of Oceana Boulevard to reach the Flame of Hope.  You will need more than 500 mm to get decent pictures, if you can get those pictures.

Spot D:  This is the least-known spot to watch at NAS Oceana.  The best route is to follow Potters Road to the light and turn left onto London Bridge Road.  Follow London Bridge Road for about three miles and turn left onto Taylor Farm Road (the last time I visited the spot, there was a traffic light that was not activated and a lot of development around the road).  Either park on the side of the road or make another left into a court.  You will be in clear view of landings to 5R, but you will not see them land, since you have a tree line before the runway.  Landings to 5L are even more obscured and can't be viewed as well as the 5R aircraft.  You will need more than 300 mm for some shots and less for others.  At this time, I am unsure of any changes to the surrounding area of the Taylor Farm spot.  I was not able to check out the area in March 2006 because of the 23s and 32s being used as the active runways.

Spot E:  This is located inside NAS Oceana.  Follow Oceana Boulevard and turn onto Tomcat Boulevard.  At this time, I am unable to report where this spot is and what you will get as far as shots because I have not asked any of my Oceana contacts to see if this spot is okay to take pictures from.

Spot F:  This is located inside NAS Oceana by the control tower.  If you have a sponsor who will get you on base for a tour and told you that he/she needed to take care of some business for several hours, you could tell him/her that you'll be at the terminal.  This is the MAC Terminal, which is located by the Air Operations building, and is where most of the transient traffic will park.  You have a great view of activities on all of the runways, but remember that you will need a large lens to get decent takeoff and landing shots from any of the runways.  Runways 5/23 (left and right) will be out in front of you and 14/32 (left and right) will be to your right).  You can venture out onto the ramp, but keep within 30 feet of the porch area.  Standard photography restrictions are in effect (no open panels, no nose cone radomes) but other than that, you are free to take all the pictures you want from the ramp.  Your sponsor will go over the photography restrictions with you.

As far as what you will see, the best time to spot at NAS Oceana is anytime on a weekday. You can spot on the weekends if you'd like, but there is a very good chance you won't see a whole lot of flying taking place, unless its the weekend of Oceana's airshow. If the weather is ideal (a high overcast is okay, as long as the ceiling is pretty high), you will see a lot of action in just several hours.   You will see Hornets and Super Hornets all day.  Common transients include C-2 Greyhounds and E-2C Hawkeyes from nearby Naval Station Norfolk and F-15 Eagles and F-22 Raptors from Langley AFB, all using the runways for touch-and-goes and the like.  Outside of those, you will more likely see transients from the Navy and Marines more than you will see Air Force aircraft, although C-17s, C-130s, and the like do stop by every so often.  Unlike airliners, which you can probably guess what is taking off by the callsign (Eagle Flight 4075, Speedbird 67 Heavy, for instance), judging military aircraft by their callsign can get tricky if you don't know what squadron operates what aircraft. Below are some of the most common callsigns you will hear from Oceana-based squadrons:

If you are driving between NAS Oceana and Langley AFB, the drive will take approximately 35 miles and 45-55 minutes, with traffic moving at a decent pace on Interstates 64 and 264 and smoothly through the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.  I have gotten between both bases in under 40 minutes, driving at 75 mph on I-64 in Norfolk and on I-264 (both of which have a lot of speed traps).

Security

Police Officers around NAS Oceana and from the city of Virginia Beach will stop by at each of the spots on a semi-regular basis, and whether or not they will tell you to leave comes up to their attitude.  During the last week of October 2005, one of my friends made a trip down to Oceana and was told by a Navy Police Officer to leave Spot B and that only Spot A was the designated spotting area at NAS Oceana (which is not true).  After about two hours, he returned to Spot B, and while there were other people at that spot, the same cop came by and threatened to arrest him.  He videotapes more than anything, so having a video camera can make things worse than having a still camera.  That same friend of mine was also photographed by the Navy Police with his equipment and his automobile.  Personally, I have not had any problems so far at any of the spots around Oceana (knock on wood), and I have even had someone from the base come out, knowing I had been at Spot A for several hours, and asked me if I wanted to get on base for a tour. I declined it mainly because of time and the weather was pretty soupy that day.

If you do happen to get a chance to go on base, be aware that NAS Oceana is one of the most photo-friendly bases in the United States.  Unless otherwise stated by your sponsor, you are free to take photographs of the airplanes as long as you are not taking pictures of open panels (and removed engines) and you are not taking pictures of airplanes with their nose cone removed.  Do not use a flash inside the hangars, as it could set off the sprinkler system.  Do not take pictures of things inside the control tower and leave the camera in the car if you get lucky enough to visit the flight simulators.

Oceana is a very popular military base among locals and non-locals, so you really shouldn't have that much of a problem.  If you do happen to have a problem at any of my spotting locations around Oceana or had a problem at a different spot, please e-mail me and describe the incident in full, if possible.  Include which spot, the date and time, law enforcement involved, and actions taken by yourself and the officers.  Your input will be included here and you will remain anonymous.

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