Everything that’s up in the air

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Some of the biggest debates this summer were airborne.

Residents have been vocal in speaking out against banner-towing

planes and in favor of a new city ordinance that bans them from the

skies over Huntington Beach.

The law passed Monday night, but on Tuesday there was still

confusion in City Hall as to just what was prohibited. Some city

officials, including Councilman Peter Green, who voted against the

ordinance, said it banned planes from flying under 1,000 feet. Others

said, no, they thought it prohibited any planes towing advertisements

from flying over the city at any altitude, be it 30 feet or 30 miles

above. Still others said when you find out let me know.

It took four calls and at least six city officials and lawyers to

answer the question. No ads, no how, nowhere over Huntington Beach,

said Bob Wheeler, the attorney who drafted the ordinance for the

city.

Persistent rumblings from the Federal Aviation Administration and

pilots who say they will ignore the ban should make this an

interesting case to continue to follow.

The other flying fiasco it seems I may have kicked up myself.

Ever since I wrote a feature on our flyboys in blue they have been

the topic of a heated debate. It was my intention, after I wrote the

feature, to also write a column and share with readers the experience

of riding in the Huntington Beach Police helicopter and just what you

can see from up there. Although I became sidetracked from that

purpose months ago, perhaps it is now time to tell you. The answer is

a lot.

Frankly, any issues or irritation over noise does not compare to

what they can accomplish from up there.

My preconceived notions turned out to be completely wrong. I

remember a copter was tracking me as I sped, uh I mean drove the

speed limit, along Pacific Coast Highway one day. I slowed down, but

thought, weird, they aren’t really pacing me are they? The answer, of

course, was yes. I further assumed as I craned my head to look at

them that they couldn’t see me doing that. Dead wrong. They were

probably laughing at my reaction, for as I learned first hand, they

certainly could have seen me. The visibility from that helicopter on

a clear day is amazing. I could see everything going on for a good

distance.

We saw a lifeguard swimming way beyond the surf zone, which, had

it been a swimmer pulled out by a riptide, proper authorities could

have been contacted immediately. Further down, we saw a riptide from

the air. Luckily no one was in it.

So great, you might think, they can see for miles on a clear day.

But let me tell you, criminals might want to work by daylight,

because the technology they carry at night was equally impressive.

Not only do they have high-powered binoculars but they have this

infrared device that can see a person’s heat, can detect warm tire

tracks -- hiding from this helicopter would be no minor feat.

I also feel compelled to point out that Huntington Beach police

are not the only helicopters flying over the city. If you hear a

helicopter while sitting in your living room it just might not be

them. One very angry resident living in the Seapoint area, for

example, wrote in about the noise of the helicopters each and every

morning. Most likely, that racket was made not by the police, but by

the helicopter that takes workers out the oil rigs each morning.

* DANETTE GOULET is the city editor. She can be reached at (714)

965-7170 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@latimes.com.