President Obama is due to land on the Vineyard on Thursday for a planned 10-day family vacation up-Island, and three days before the arrival few details have been released by the White House.

But flight restrictions have been set and the Secret Service is on-Island preparing for the first family’s visit; it is understood that the Obamas will again vacation at Blue Heron Farm, the 28.5 acre Chilmark estate fronting the Tisbury Great Pond off South Road just across the town line. The farm is owned by William and Mollie Van Devender, and under contract for rental by Wallace and Co. Sotheby’s International Realty.

Tom Wallace, a principal in the Edgartown real estate company, confirmed yesterday that his company has a rental contract on the property, but he had no comment on who the tenant is.

And the White House is staying tight-lipped about most other details of this presidential visit as well.

“What we’ve been told is it will be identical to last year,” said Martha’s Vineyard Airport manager Sean Flynn yesterday.

If that is the case, then the Obamas can be expected to fly Air Force One to the Cape Cod Coast Guard Air Station in Bourne, where they will board a helicopter for the short trip to the Vineyard. The arrival last year was closed to the public; a motorcade took the Obamas directly to Blue Heron Farm along the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, which was lined with crowds of flag-waving well-wishers.

Mr. Flynn confirmed that the president is scheduled to arrive at the airport sometime Thursday, although the exact time of arrival remains up in the air.

“It’s a wide one right now,” Mr. Flynn said of the time frame. “We’re hearing things, anywhere between noon and five p.m. I don’t even really know the time. I did know it. Things have changed; now I do not know it.”

The 10-day presidential visit was confirmed in late July by White House officials for August 19 through 29. Last Wednesday was the first Mr. Flynn said he had heard of the Federal Aviation Administration’s temporary flight restrictions [TFR] for the duration of the President’s stay.

Any flights below 18,000 feet in the air space surrounding Martha’s Vineyard will be prohibited without complying with rules set forth in the TFR. Pilots of private planes, for instance, will have to begin the process of filing for permission to fly at least 72 hours before their scheduled flights. Commercial carriers, including Cape Air and U.S. Airways, will have to stop at one of three gateway airports en route to the Vineyard, including either Westchester County Airport in New York, T.F. Green Airport in Providence, or Barnstable Municipal Airport.

“At those locations you’ll be screened by [the Transportation Security Administration] and then you’ll be able to fly to Martha’s Vineyard, provided you can maintain radio contact with the radar people,” Mr. Flynn said.

On-Island, outbound flights will be required to go through a screening process much like the one required for aircraft destined for major airports in Boston or Providence.

Katama Airpark will be closed almost completely during the 10-day visit, with only the classic aviator flights in Mike Creato’s biplanes allowed to fly. “The airfield otherwise will be closed down for the president’s visit,” said Mr. Creato yesterday. “So no other airplanes, no flight instructing, no private owners. Everything else is shut down.”

The restrictions will cause a loss in revenue for the tiny airport, just like last year. “It’s a financial hit, relatively big,” said Mr. Creato. “It costs some money. We haven’t figured out any way to do anything about that, but it’s a pretty significant financial impact.”

Still, Mr. Creato said he’s grateful to be allowed to operate his biplane tours, though hours of operation will be cut and flight paths severely limited, depending on where on the Island the president is at any given time.

“It was pretty exceptional of the Secret Service to let us fly at all. They don’t have to and they’ve really done us a big favor by allowing us to do this limited biplane thing,” Mr. Creato said. “Last year was the trial year. It went fine, there were no episodes of a biplane being where it shouldn’t be so they’re going to let us do the same this year.”

Mr. Flynn agreed that the Secret Service is being generous. “When the president went to vacation on Hawaii, all the helicopter tour operators were shut down and that turned into a very big news event out in their world,” he said. “We were actually very successful in keeping Mike in business and keeping him flying.”

As for the Secret Service, Mr. Creato said: “They’re around and they’re checking out everybody and everything. But once they’re up and running you don’t see them very much. They’re pretty good at going unknown.”

Wesley Hotel owner Peter Martell confirmed last month that there were some agents renting rooms in the hotel, which has housed members of the Secret Service dating back to President Bill Clinton’s first visit in 1993, but wouldn’t say any more this week. “Security is very important, and I have nothing to add,” Mr. Martell said.

The first family’s vacation will be longer this year; last year the Obamas came for a week, which was shortened slightly when Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died and the Obamas traveled to Boston to attend the service for him.

During the vacation, the President played many rounds of golf, and the first family spent a day biking in Aquinnah and visiting the Gay Head Lighthouse. Mr. and Mrs. Obama dined out with friends one evening in Oak Bluffs at the Sweet Life Cafe on Circuit avenue. Overall, it was a quiet vacation, just as the upcoming visit is planned to be.

One change from last year will be with Angel Flights, the organization that flies critically ill Islanders to off-Island medical appointments out of the Martha’s Vineyard Airport. Last summer, the service cancelled all of its flights after it was discovered that they hadn’t made the special arrangements necessary to operate during the President’s vacation.

“We did an extensive outreach to them this year, far, far in advance to all of this, as soon as we even heard that there was something that was going to happen,” said Mr. Flynn. “They have some flights scheduled, they understand what their requirements will be, and they are going forward with their trips.”