Unlike previous HAI Conventions, the fly-in of display aircraft for Heli-Expo’05 was anything but routine as pilots of incoming helos had to contend with not only restricted airspace but also blustery northeast Santa Ana winds that combined to complicate arrivals last Wednesday and Thursday.
First, before show aircraft could enter the temporary flight restriction (TFR) area surrounding Disneyland, it was necessary for HAI, with city of Anaheim concurrence, to have the Anaheim Convention Center designated a temporary heliport, for Heli-Expo flight operations only. Then the association worked with the FAA’s Western Pacific Region and Long Beach Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) to survey and certify the landing site, establish an entry point, an arrival corridor and specific flight procedures. As a potential terrorist target post 9/11, Disneyland is protected by a permanent TFR from the surface to 3,000 feet, within a three-nautical-mile radius from the center of the theme park.
