Apache a No-Go, at Least For Now

On Monday, we rapped a bit about the possibility of the Rotary Club dropping a $12 million Apache helicopter down in front of UP City Hall on July 4.

In a meeting earlier this month, the City Council liked the idea, but wanted the Rotarians to come back with a bit more insurance money, lest a rotor blade destroy a home or, even worse, Park Cities People‘s dunking booth. Well, it seems the Rotarians came back with the cash (a $10 million policy is the word on the street), but then the FAA stepped in.

An FAA inspector swung by City Hall Tuesday morning, unannounced, and told staff that if the city allowed the event to occur, he would most likely not issue a permit for the flight and landing. Seems the parking lot in front of the fire department isn’t big enough for a landing.

Moral of the story: someone should buy a miniature helicopter and land it during the parade just for fun.

By Bradford Pearson May. 19, 2011 | 9:18 am | 7 Comments | Comments RSS
7 comments to "Apache a No-Go, at Least For Now"
  1. UPDad @ May 19, 2011 at 1:26 pm
    Rotary Club should just go to SMU for help. The SMU donors would make sure it would not only breeze through the city council, but I’m sure they’d manage to pull the strings to make the FAA look the other way too. You’d think they’d know that by now.

  2. Avid Reader @ May 19, 2011 at 1:57 pm
    If the parking lot isn’t big enough….rope off an area of the field that is big enough. As far as the FAA goes, they let SMU land one on their field so obviously there is some way to get them on board.

  3. BM @ May 19, 2011 at 7:22 pm
    Unannouned! Yea right, sure he got a call from someone, that way the council don’t have to be the “bad guys” Where was the “FAA” all those many years i watched the Careflight Helicopter land on the same spot at the 4th of July Parade??

  4. Neal @ May 19, 2011 at 9:59 pm
    I vaguely remember a helicopter landing at Goar Park on July 4 at some point, maybe 25 years ago? Anyone else? Or am I getting it mixed up with the ReMax hot air balloon that also made an appearance around that time?

    On the Friday before the Super Bowl, in the middle of the ice storm, a large helicopter landed on the field at McCulloch. A bunch of kids ran over and were taken for a quick ride. So I don’t think choppers are the problem, just the location.

  5. BM @ May 20, 2011 at 6:47 am
    Neal, The Careflight Helicopter landed there many times for the parade and it would be on display while the crew stood by and answered questions.

  6. M @ May 20, 2011 at 1:51 pm
    Only in the PC…and only after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said no to an aircraft carrier on Turtle Creek.

  7. T-Bone @ May 28, 2011 at 5:02 pm
    I’m sure Obama is doing everything he can to screw with Texas, including sending an FAA bureaucrat to our fine city to impose his fiat. Watchout Mayor Davis! Next thing you know is he’ll send the TSA to inspect your crotch!…………….NOBAMA!

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