The annual extravaganza hosted by the Helicopter Association International (HAI) will officially kick off tomorrow, March 8 in Dallas. Helicopters have been flying in to Heli-Expo since March 4 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center where some of them had main rotors blades removed or wheels attached before they could be moved into the building.

We will get the official figures later, but we estimate that about 250 exhibitors have reserved spots and dozens of helicopters will be on display inside the huge facility.

In addition to it being an opportunity for those in the helicopter and aviation industries to show their wares, there are also meetings for working groups and committees as well as professional education and technical briefings from manufacturers. The exhibits are open for three days, Tuesday through Thursday.

Last year Heli-Expo scheduled to be in New Orleans was cancelled due to COVID. The one before that in Anaheim, California across the street from Disneyland occurred at the end of January, 2020 just as COVID cases were starting to appear in California and other states.

Monday night HAI held a welcome reception at the Omni Hotel adjacent to the convention center. As you can see in the photo below it was sponsored by Bell who assisted in providing “southern country fair-themed food” and a DJ. It was billed as occurring at the “Omni Pegasus Lawn and Block”, but a few didn’t realize they would be standing around for hours out of doors and were not dressed accordingly. The temperature was 50 degrees and there was a stiff breeze, so the scattered propane heaters were popular.

I was standing about 18 inches from one and a young lady walked up and planted herself between me and the heater. As she was holding her hands up to the heat I glanced at her friend who knowingly smiled as I shook my head. Firefighters know that when you’re at a briefing on a cold morning or out on the line during a long frigid night shift you don’t block someone else’s heat at a warming fire or propane heater. Rather than attempt to explain fireline etiquette, I just sighed and got in line again for another cup of southern country fair-themed chili topped with Fritos, chilies, onions, and cheese.

These fly in photos were taken March 4, 2022. We will post more tomorrow, from March 5.

More helicopter photos: