So, there would have to be a reason the chopper took off directly
over the
Wal Mart if there was vacant land on three sides of the construction
site.

Or there might have been wires or other obstacles in the other
directions.

I don't recall that day being very windy, but there are electrical
lines on all the other sides of the property. The pilot was travelling
along the line of greatest distance to an obstacle (other than the
Wal-Mart building).

What I would do is call the helicopter operation over at Addison,
email the owner
the picture, and ask them if they know anything about it. They are
the only
really active Schweizer operation around the Dallas area.

That was a good idea. I just got off the phone with one of the managers
at Summit Helicopters in Addison. He confirmed that is one of his
company's helicopters, and they have frequent operations in the area,
and they are the only operation in the area that flies the Schweizer
300 helicopter. He said that whichever of us bet closest to a height of
125 feet probably won. He also said it was a good picture (I sent him a
full-sized, 2 Meg copy).
He seemed like a really nice man. Maybe I'll take a helicopter flight
with them, sometime ($99 for a half-hour, and they offer Christmas
lights tours).