Although all boys and girls know that Santa is usually seen as a wisp of smoke, kissing Mommy, dipping into the cookies and milk/warm cocoa or just as a flash of red and white - accompanied by a loud and hearty “Ho-Ho-Ho!” - and the gleam of tiny hooves of reindeers disappearing into the distant night sky, Santa has been known to do a reconnaissance flyover earlier on Christmas Eve.In a prior interview Charles McLaughlin of Aspen Helicopter said that Santa takes a special Santa in Lights helicopter specially built for the Man with All the Toys and patterned after one constructed by a friend in Montana.The helicopter strongly resembles Santa’s famous sleigh and is about 15-feet-high and about 40-feet-long.The flight, of course, hinges on weather permitting: High winds or rains, Santa takes the evening off.Bobkiewicz is going out of town and leaving Christmas morning: “How can I leave town before Santa Claus comes? I have to make sure he appreciates how much we appreciate him flying over Santa Paula, which is his favorite town.”Santa, noted Bobkiewicz, “Doesn’t fly over Fillmore…when gets to the Santa Paula Airport he turns around and heads west again. Santa Paula having Santa Claus visit on Christmas Eve is very, very special.”
What’s that in the sky? Santa Claus flyover Santa Paula Christmas Eve!
December 24, 2008
Santa Paula News
Santa will be offering a rare sighting when he flies over the city Christmas Eve courtesy of Aspen Helicopters of Oxnard.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesSanta will be offering a rare sighting when he flies over the city Christmas Eve courtesy of Aspen Helicopters of Oxnard.Although Wednesday’s flyover is scheduled for 7 p.m. City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said he has “Learned over the last couple of years those times are approximate…Santa has a tendency to run a little faster. People should probably start looking at a quarter to 7.”Santa has been providing the pre-Christmas thrill to thousands of Santa Paulans since 2005, although Aspen Helicopters has provided the show to west Ventura County residents for about three decades.After some pretty heavy negotiations with the North Pole Bobkiewicz arranged the highly visible fly over during Santa’s Christmas Eve world tour.At that time Bobkiewicz noted “Whatever it takes to bring Santa Claus to Santa Paula we’ll do...” but the terms of the agreement remain a secret to this day.
