Narrative:

I was flying inbound to the airport with a student on the first leg of a cross country flight. Student was at the controls. Airport elevation is 1738 ft with a pattern altitude of 2538 ft. We flew over the town at 2900 ft MSL. On landing rollout noticed a sheriff's vehicle parked with officer outside watching us. We parked plane and entered airport office to check WX and file VFR flight plan for our next leg. We were never approached by officer and he had departed when we taxied out for takeoff. My student asked if I had any idea why officer was watching us. I thought maybe he was bored and just watching or maybe thought we were too low over town. I, however, think that at 2900 ft we were more than 1000 ft AGL. My student and I both thought it would be helpful if the altitude of the town were printed on charts just in case there was a difference in altitude between the town and the airport. Since altitudes of towers and other obstructions are printed it would be a nice addition to have altitudes of towns when different than nearby airports.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RPTR INSTRUCTOR AND TRAINEE ON XCOUNTRY FLT MAY HAVE FLOWN TOO LOW OVER A TOWN. IF THE TOWN WAS APPROX THE SAME ALT AS THE ARPT, WHICH WAS 2 MI AWAY, THEN THEY HAD AT LEAST 1000 FT ABOVE. RPTR'S CONCERN WAS ABOUT SHERIFF WATCHING THEM AT ARPT.

Narrative: I WAS FLYING INBOUND TO THE ARPT WITH A STUDENT ON THE FIRST LEG OF A XCOUNTRY FLT. STUDENT WAS AT THE CTLS. ARPT ELEVATION IS 1738 FT WITH A PATTERN ALT OF 2538 FT. WE FLEW OVER THE TOWN AT 2900 FT MSL. ON LNDG ROLLOUT NOTICED A SHERIFF'S VEHICLE PARKED WITH OFFICER OUTSIDE WATCHING US. WE PARKED PLANE AND ENTERED ARPT OFFICE TO CHK WX AND FILE VFR FLT PLAN FOR OUR NEXT LEG. WE WERE NEVER APCHED BY OFFICER AND HE HAD DEPARTED WHEN WE TAXIED OUT FOR TKOF. MY STUDENT ASKED IF I HAD ANY IDEA WHY OFFICER WAS WATCHING US. I THOUGHT MAYBE HE WAS BORED AND JUST WATCHING OR MAYBE THOUGHT WE WERE TOO LOW OVER TOWN. I, HOWEVER, THINK THAT AT 2900 FT WE WERE MORE THAN 1000 FT AGL. MY STUDENT AND I BOTH THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF THE ALT OF THE TOWN WERE PRINTED ON CHARTS JUST IN CASE THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE IN ALT BTWN THE TOWN AND THE ARPT. SINCE ALTS OF TWRS AND OTHER OBSTRUCTIONS ARE PRINTED IT WOULD BE A NICE ADDITION TO HAVE ALTS OF TOWNS WHEN DIFFERENT THAN NEARBY ARPTS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.