Forget about Santa Claus.  President Obama is coming to town, and he must think Hawaii has been naughty, because he’s bringing with him the TFR of all TFRs.

I was stunned when I saw the FAA alert.  No pattern work.  Limited tour operations.  For 13 days during the President’s holiday vacation.

“It’s really not that unusual,” an FAA spokesperson was quick to remind me.

True, a 30 mile radius and 10 mile core is quite common for TFRs on the mainland.  And Martha’s Vineyard had a similar experience in August.

But hey, that was for less than a week.

And did anyone stop to think about that fact that Honolulu is the world’s most isolated metropolis with the next closest Cessna Pilot Center more than 2,000 miles away?

The no-fly zone blankets the entire island.  Honolulu’s sightseeing and flight school businesses will have their wings clipped, at a time when tourists and vacationing pilots flock to the islands to spend money.

“We always try to find a good balance between airport operations and the President’s security,” Secret Service Agent Ed Donovan told me.  “And we are working with tour operators to let them fly some routes.”

But as the local CBS and NBC station reported, those modified routes will likely miss the most popular and beautiful spots along Oahu’s windward side, where the President is vacationing.

“This is like right after 9/11 for you guys,” a briefer at the Honolulu Flight Service Station remarked in an unusual show of personality over the phone.

There are exceptions to the rule.  In fact, the Feds were nice enough to allow skydiving and limited general aviation operations at Dillingham Airfield (HDH) on the famous North Shore during certain hours.

Great, but they overlooked the main touch-and-go training airport, John Rodgers Field (JRF) on Oahu’s West Side.

That’s where all the students go, since Honolulu International doesn’t allow pattern work.  And should a pilot stray, it’s less than 10 miles from a row of battle-ready F-15s at Hickam Air Force Base.

“We had to make a decision, and we’re not going to reconsider,” the Secret Service said.

The price of living in paradise?  Perhaps.

But you’d think a Hawaii-born President might have more compassion for his pilot people.

Chris Archer Blogs by Archer FAA, general aviation, hawaii air tours, hawaii cessna pilot center, hawaii flight training, hawaii sightseeing, hawaii tfr, honolulu flight service station, honolulu tfr, jrf, kalaeloa, obama tfr, president obama, secret service