Any Hawaii pilots here?

Katamarino

Katamarino

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Dec 14, 2011
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Display name:
Katamarino
Let me know - I'd love to get some advice about flying around the islands.
 
I'm from Vermont, but I have flown around between Oahu and Maui years ago. All I can say is do it if you can, but be ready for local weather to change fairly rapidly.
 
I have taken off and landed on each of the 5 major islands in Cessna 172/182s and have about 6 hrs doing it. It may be helpful if you post your question(s).
 
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I'm primarily looking for suggested scenic flight routes during a 1 week visit, any local procedures or tips that a visiting pilot might know (i.e. local gotchas that may be different from elsewhere) and recommendations on which airports are most welcoming to GA. Also any local knowledge on international arrival, and domestic oceanic departure.

I'm reading everything I can find online of course and contacting FBOs but local pilot knowledge is always great.
 
A 172 flight all the way around Oahu is right at 1.0.


That's all I've got.
 
The helicopter flight on Kauai is pretty spectacular. (But the one I rode in crashed a few weeks later, killing at least one passenger.)

I do remember that renting a plane and flying around the islands isn't without significant risks, particularly in the event of a forced landing. Much of the coast is steep volcanic rock going right to the water, and there are sharks in much of the water.
 
dbahn said:
...there are sharks in much of the water.
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There are sharks in every ocean, and some fresh water to boot. If this is a factor in your ADM for safety of flight, you're not being rational. Well, unless you are flying over seal island in false bay perhaps....
 
Salty said:
There are sharks in every ocean, and some fresh water to boot. If this is a factor in your ADM for safety of flight, you're not being rational. Well, unless you are flying over seal island in false bay perhaps....
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It can be "rational" if it makes you decide to carry an inflatable life raft instead of just PFDs, which is exactly what I did to fly the Bahamas. If you survive the ditching you've at least got a fighting chance to be rescued alive.
 
dbahn said:
It can be "rational" if it makes you decide to carry an inflatable life raft instead of just PFDs, which is exactly what I did to fly the Bahamas. If you survive the ditching you've at least got a fighting chance to be rescued alive.
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No, the sharks part is not rational. The odds of being attacked by a shark after an aircraft accident are not high enough to consider rational. Having a life raft will certainly improve your chances, but you're more likely to drown or die of exposure issues long before a shark attack.
 
My wife and I went up in a 172 through a flight school in Maui. It was cheaper than the helicopter ride but more fun. I did not have my PPL at the time and the CFI let me fly the plane around. I will say that the landing at Maui was crazy turbulent. At one point I hit my head on the top of the plane. Lots of wind at that airport.
 
Yep, we just grabbed an instructor for a little "flight instruction" which was us going where we want with him giving some advice.
 
Last trip I did a check out with George's Aviation in a DA-40. I did an XC to Lanai, so cleared to fly where I wanted. Logged 1.7 for the checkout.

The biggest hassle was finding the most current chart of the VFR departures and arrivals. If you Google, you get many choices.
 
Salty said:
No, the sharks part is not rational. The odds of being attacked by a shark after an aircraft accident are not high enough to consider rational. Having a life raft will certainly improve your chances, but you're more likely to drown or die of exposure issues long before a shark attack.
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But if you want to play pure odds games, the odds of an engine failure occurring over the open water are very small. But the odds of a bleeding human dangling from a PFD being attacked by sharks where sharks are common are pretty high.
 
dbahn said:
But if you want to play pure odds games, the odds of an engine failure occurring over the open water are very small. But the odds of a bleeding human dangling from a PFD being attacked by sharks where sharks are common are pretty high.
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You have to crash, slide into the ocean, cut yourself, and then get attacked by a shark. If you are really worried about the shark part of that, you are being irrational. There are tens of thousands of things that are more likely to kill you that you could worry about.
 
If you worry about something that you can't do anything about, I consider that irrational.

I think I can manage a water ditching and get my passenger and me out of the airplane before it sinks. I know for a fact that I cannot win a fight with sharks if we're both in the water. Just because you survive one unlikely event doesn't mean you shouldn't plan for the other.
 
George's Aviation has life rafts to take for flights to other islands and PFDs.
 
dbahn said:
I know for a fact that I cannot win a fight with sharks if we're both in the water.
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I'm going to guess that you're not a scuba diver. I know @Salty is and so am I. I've seen sharks so many times on dives that I really don't worry about them, and IMHO fearing a shark attack after a ditching is about like fearing a bear attack if you crash in the woods. IOW, it's waaaay down on the list of worry items. You simply don't look like a typical food source to a shark.
 
I have a contact that has/had an Extra 300L on Oahu, and does aerobatic flights, if you’re interested. He used to be an F15 driver
 
Do you want advice for flying around the islands or help finding them in the middle of the big blue sea? For the former, you should have some minimal equipment for the possibility of a water ditching and a fuel reserve of at least 10 hours. Think you can manage that? And depending on your paint job, low passes over Ford Island without talking to ATC are frowned upon. To find the islands, Captain Ron’s method is best: Have just enough fuel to reach them, and then when the engine sputters you’ll know you’re there.

I took Mokulele (Grand Caravan) to Lanai and would recommend it as a place off the beaten path. For example, the inter-island cruise some family members took hit the other major islands but not Lanai. It’s a more rural flavor of Hawaii and you can get to a beach on the south shore that was pretty quiet and nice. The limiting factor for us was food since we weren’t staying at Four Seasons. Renting a Jeep to get around the island more thoroughly was worth it. I wished that I had my plane the whole time, though. Lots of exploration even around Oahu that would be easier staring over a wing than driving on H1.
 
Half Fast said:
I'm going to guess that you're not a scuba diver. I know @Salty is and so am I. I've seen sharks so many times on dives that I really don't worry about them, and IMHO fearing a shark attack after a ditching is about like fearing a bear attack if you crash in the woods. IOW, it's waaaay down on the list of worry items. You simply don't look like a typical food source to a shark.
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Wrong guess.

I am a scuba diver and I've seen plenty of sharks, but not while I was dangling in the water and bleeding, which is real outcome of a water ditching. If it's any help, I was realistically afraid of bears flying wilderness in Alaska and Canada, one trip in a floatplane with the real risk of getting stuck on a lake with mechanical trouble. I configured the PA12 to be able to paddle out offshore and sleep in the plane if I was stranded. Again, I'd rather have a fighting chance than rely on wishful thinking.
 
More people in Hawaii were injured by sharks last year than were involved in midairs where one or more airplanes was NORDO.

Nauga,
who thinks some people just like to argue
 
Katamarino said:
Bears are scary. They can both run and swim faster than you; so realistically, your only chance to beat it in a triathlon is the cycling.
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Oh man, now we're well and truly ****ed.

Bearcycle.jpg

Nauga,
who says, "bear with me"
 
Katamarino said:
I'm primarily looking for suggested scenic flight routes during a 1 week visit, any local procedures or tips that a visiting pilot might know (i.e. local gotchas that may be different from elsewhere) and recommendations on which airports are most welcoming to GA. Also any local knowledge on international arrival, and domestic oceanic departure.

I'm reading everything I can find online of course and contacting FBOs but local pilot knowledge is always great.
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In 1 week, you can see it all. Here are my favorite areas, starting from the top:
- North shore of Molokai (wow!)
- Na Pali coast
- Waimea canyon on Kauai (go as low as you are comfortable)
- North shore of big island
- Arriving towards Diamond Head from the east
- Flying the route that the Japanese Zeros used to attack Pearl Harbor (I got goose bumps)
But really, you should fly over the entire shoreline of all major islands, as it's all beautiful.
 
MountainDude said:
Flying the route that the Japanese Zeros used to attack Pearl Harbor (I got goose bumps)
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How hard is this to do? Airspace, traffic, and knowledge of the route are the challenges I’m thinking of. But it might be the final push I need to rent a plane if I find myself in Hawaii again. Awesome idea.
 
Hi Katamarino!
Great to see your adventure(s) continuing!
In 2016, I rented a Cessna 172 to fly around Kona. I decided to do what some others have and had a CFI come along. This worked very well - airspace and local weather and winds are one thing, but boy, it's darn near impossible to pronounce most of the local landmarks and way points.
Very fun flight, extremely cool terrain, some neat canyons we could fly down, and no stress since I had the CFI along.
You've got your own plane and you're very experienced flying in unfamiliar areas, but it might be nice to bring along someone with local knowledge.
Hope to see you again soon...
 
nauga said:
More people in Hawaii were injured by sharks last year than were involved in midairs where one or more airplanes was NORDO.

Nauga,
who thinks some people just like to argue
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Oh, come on - you’re better at statistics than that. How many people were attacked by sharks after ditching an airplane in Hawaii?

:D
 
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On what island will you be based? I've rented out of Maui Kahului a couple of times. Flew an Archer.

Beware the wind direction and trade winds. Every island has mountains, particularly Maui and the Big Island. The windward sides are relatively calm. The leeward sides can be rock-and-roll torture.

Also weather can be radically different on windward and leeward sides. It can change in just a mile.
 
Lee sides have strong downdrafts if you are close to the ridges or mountains. Fly away to cure that problem. They may exceed your climb capability.

As Domenick says, the windward sides are smooth, and very pleasant.
 
Katamarino said:
So you're saying that they're overdue for a post-ditching shark attack?
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Either that or a ditching along the east coast of Maui just to prove that you can drown instead of being attacked by a shark. :eek:
 
Katamarino said:
So you're saying that they're overdue for a post-ditching shark attack?
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Nothing to do with ditching, but NBC news this morning interviewed a guy who fought off a shark a few days ago, but lost a foot in the process. :(
 
dbahn said:
Nothing to do with ditching, but NBC news this morning interviewed a guy who fought off a shark a few days ago, but lost a foot in the process. :(
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A few hundred times more people won the lottery today. But it wasn't you or me.
 
dbahn said:
Nothing to do with ditching, but NBC news this morning interviewed a guy who fought off a shark a few days ago, but lost a foot in the process. :(
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1620234277641
 
I usually live in Alaska, but also own a place on the Big Island. Would love to meet a few fellow fliers. To me, it sounds like GA is pretty dead on the Big Island. On a side note, I live right next to a closed, one way, sugar cane dusting field that looks like it would have been pretty hairy in it's day to this pilot who has flown in the Alaskan Bush for the past 15 years.
 
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