The propeller is quite dangerous. It is near invisible when spinning. Because of that, we treat the propeller with respect within its prop arc. By minding the prop arc when the props aren't spinning, we build a habit pattern that helps us avoid getting chopped up by them when they are spinning.
It is one of those habits that gets ingrained into prop plane aviators very early on and has saved lives on more than one occasion. Believe me with that many blades spinning to the point of near invisibility, you do not want get on the business end of them. We had a dear run through the prop arc once...once.
All I was doing was making sure of the safety of my guests.
As for the pictures, like NC said, there are places that pictures are not permitted. On the flight deck you can snap shots of the aircraft from anywhere but in the cockpit. As for the Air Farce and their regulations, certain of their bases have aircraft that are a bit more camera shy than ours.
As for the dish on top and how it impacts the flight characteristics, believe it or not the dish is light compared to the plane. It is also aerodynamically neutral, meaning limited drag and no lift generated. So, it looks unwieldy...but actually works quite well on the plane. No worries there...unless it falls off, then things are a bit out of balance.
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