Fly Yourself in Hawaii
Nov 24, 2006, 11:37 am
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
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Fly Yourself in Hawaii
I'm a pretty big frequent flier, probably logging over 125,000 flight miles each year. While that flying is usually done in a First Class seat, I've always had the desire to fly further "up front" in the cockpit. After some research and calling around, I decided to start taking up flight lessons at Kona through Island Hopper's "Hawaii Flight Academy."
Most of the airports in the islands have some type of flight instruction, but I selected this school based on the flight experience of the instructors and the location of the school: Kona probably has the clearest/driest/less crouded airspace in the island chain ...and when combined with the beauty of the Big Island, makes for a fabulous place to learn to fly.
Cost of flight instruction is roughly $230/hour for flight time, and the school accepts all major credit cards... so you can earn airline miles / hotel points for the experience by simply charging the purchase to your loyalty card.
My first flight was awesome --after a thorough review of the plane's features (for my flight, we used a Cessna 172) and instruments, we practiced taxing around the private craft area of KOA airport. Once I got the work of the control surfaces down, my instructor radio'ed to the tower asking for permission to taxi onto the runway and takeoff. In between an Aloha and Hawaiian Airline jet, I worked my way out to the runway and took off to the south, headed for South Point. The takeoff was exhillerating and fairly easy to execute. While jet traffic veers off to the right towards Maui, we continued just off the coast until crossing land just south of the Captain Cook Monument area. There, we climbed up over the southern rift zone of Mauna Loa (to about 8500 feet) before coming across the northern slopes of Ocean View. During that climb, there was some mild turbulence, and the instructor talked me through what to do with it to stabilize the plane (and rise above the rough air.) Around the Ocean View area, we turned more northerly, following the highway below to the Chain of Craters road within Volcanos National Park. Once inside the park, we flew over the Kilauea Caldera ...and then proceeded to the Pu'uO'o Vent.
Pu'u'O'o was definitely the highlight of this trip. My instructor chatted with other pilots in the area (mostly helicopter pilots) to make sure the area was clear... and once it was, we spiraled directly over the vent roughly 2,500-3,00 feet above. (A breeze was blowing fume from the vent east out to sea, giving us a crystal clear view of the very active vent.) As we spiraled around the vent, I could see lava/magma splashing about in the pit of the vent --you could just see the anger of Pele come to life there. Once I circled once or twice, my instructor took over the controls so I could lean out my window and take pictures of the red hot area. (The pictures came out amazingly!) The instructor was great about this --he said at anytime I wanted to take a break from flying to snap some photos, just to let him know, and he'd take over and let me snap away... and when I was done, I'd just announce that I'd resume flying from there.
From there, we headed north to just west of Hilo. The Hilo airspace was a busy one and I was glad to leave the area controlled by their air traffic tower. Once I was north/west enough of Hilo, we went towards the Waipo Valley where I was able to take more awesome pictures of not just the valley, but of all the earthquake damage that occured throughout the Kohala Mountain range. It was amazing to see how many fresh rock/land slides there were that scarred those lush green hills/mountains with orange-reddish slashes from the freshly exposed soil below. After passing over Waimea, we went back over the ocean with awesome views of neighboring Maui and Haleakala. The instructor cautioned that this is usually a very turbulent area. However, the weather completely cooperated for us and the air was smooth here.
Over the open waters, we practiced a few manuevers so I could get comfortable with my eventual landing back at KOA airport. Doing rapid decents/accents and stalling the engines and whatnot, I was able to get really comfortable with the aircraft and really learn how to control the speed/force of the plane. After more manuevers off of the Waikaloa coast, we set our sights back onto KOA and prepared for a landing.
My instructor contacted the tower and let them know of our intentions to land ...so again, during a break between other commercial jet traffic, we made our way down. While the instructor warned me it was much harder landing than taking off, it was fairly easy (but probably the most stressful part of the flight.) Ironically, my only "experience" landing a plane was at Continental's "Do" last year, where I got to land a 757 at EWR in their simulators. Remembering what I learned from that experience ...and adding all the information my instructor taught me, I was able to line up dead-center in the strip and made a picture perfect landing without multiple bounces at touchdown.
The tower provided me with instruction on which taxiway to exit the runway on ...and then added some drama to the situation by having me make an unexpected last-minute sharp turn to make way for a firetruck that was doing a practice run down the runway. We taxi'd to a fueling area to be refueled, and then taxi'd back down to the private aviation side of the airport, passing the commercial gates and cargo area of the airport on the way.
All in all, this was a fabulous experience that I'd recommend to anyone visiting the islands. For about the cost of a helicopter ride, you can pilot your own plane (and the 172 allows for an additional passenger to ride in the back for no additional fee.) I strongly recommend KOA airport (I also considered OGG, HNL, and ITO) --the weather is usually great there and the scenery around the Big Island is awesome. I also strongly recommend the flight school (www.fly-hawaii.com) --they really did a thorough job on the ground and gave me lots of freedom when we were in the air. I left my first lesson with a "First Flight Certificate" and my pilot log book with details of my flight and key lessons learned detailed. I'll be using that log book to log additional flights as I work to earn my private pilot license.
^ ^ ^
Most of the airports in the islands have some type of flight instruction, but I selected this school based on the flight experience of the instructors and the location of the school: Kona probably has the clearest/driest/less crouded airspace in the island chain ...and when combined with the beauty of the Big Island, makes for a fabulous place to learn to fly.
Cost of flight instruction is roughly $230/hour for flight time, and the school accepts all major credit cards... so you can earn airline miles / hotel points for the experience by simply charging the purchase to your loyalty card.
My first flight was awesome --after a thorough review of the plane's features (for my flight, we used a Cessna 172) and instruments, we practiced taxing around the private craft area of KOA airport. Once I got the work of the control surfaces down, my instructor radio'ed to the tower asking for permission to taxi onto the runway and takeoff. In between an Aloha and Hawaiian Airline jet, I worked my way out to the runway and took off to the south, headed for South Point. The takeoff was exhillerating and fairly easy to execute. While jet traffic veers off to the right towards Maui, we continued just off the coast until crossing land just south of the Captain Cook Monument area. There, we climbed up over the southern rift zone of Mauna Loa (to about 8500 feet) before coming across the northern slopes of Ocean View. During that climb, there was some mild turbulence, and the instructor talked me through what to do with it to stabilize the plane (and rise above the rough air.) Around the Ocean View area, we turned more northerly, following the highway below to the Chain of Craters road within Volcanos National Park. Once inside the park, we flew over the Kilauea Caldera ...and then proceeded to the Pu'uO'o Vent.
Pu'u'O'o was definitely the highlight of this trip. My instructor chatted with other pilots in the area (mostly helicopter pilots) to make sure the area was clear... and once it was, we spiraled directly over the vent roughly 2,500-3,00 feet above. (A breeze was blowing fume from the vent east out to sea, giving us a crystal clear view of the very active vent.) As we spiraled around the vent, I could see lava/magma splashing about in the pit of the vent --you could just see the anger of Pele come to life there. Once I circled once or twice, my instructor took over the controls so I could lean out my window and take pictures of the red hot area. (The pictures came out amazingly!) The instructor was great about this --he said at anytime I wanted to take a break from flying to snap some photos, just to let him know, and he'd take over and let me snap away... and when I was done, I'd just announce that I'd resume flying from there.
From there, we headed north to just west of Hilo. The Hilo airspace was a busy one and I was glad to leave the area controlled by their air traffic tower. Once I was north/west enough of Hilo, we went towards the Waipo Valley where I was able to take more awesome pictures of not just the valley, but of all the earthquake damage that occured throughout the Kohala Mountain range. It was amazing to see how many fresh rock/land slides there were that scarred those lush green hills/mountains with orange-reddish slashes from the freshly exposed soil below. After passing over Waimea, we went back over the ocean with awesome views of neighboring Maui and Haleakala. The instructor cautioned that this is usually a very turbulent area. However, the weather completely cooperated for us and the air was smooth here.
Over the open waters, we practiced a few manuevers so I could get comfortable with my eventual landing back at KOA airport. Doing rapid decents/accents and stalling the engines and whatnot, I was able to get really comfortable with the aircraft and really learn how to control the speed/force of the plane. After more manuevers off of the Waikaloa coast, we set our sights back onto KOA and prepared for a landing.
My instructor contacted the tower and let them know of our intentions to land ...so again, during a break between other commercial jet traffic, we made our way down. While the instructor warned me it was much harder landing than taking off, it was fairly easy (but probably the most stressful part of the flight.) Ironically, my only "experience" landing a plane was at Continental's "Do" last year, where I got to land a 757 at EWR in their simulators. Remembering what I learned from that experience ...and adding all the information my instructor taught me, I was able to line up dead-center in the strip and made a picture perfect landing without multiple bounces at touchdown.
The tower provided me with instruction on which taxiway to exit the runway on ...and then added some drama to the situation by having me make an unexpected last-minute sharp turn to make way for a firetruck that was doing a practice run down the runway. We taxi'd to a fueling area to be refueled, and then taxi'd back down to the private aviation side of the airport, passing the commercial gates and cargo area of the airport on the way.
All in all, this was a fabulous experience that I'd recommend to anyone visiting the islands. For about the cost of a helicopter ride, you can pilot your own plane (and the 172 allows for an additional passenger to ride in the back for no additional fee.) I strongly recommend KOA airport (I also considered OGG, HNL, and ITO) --the weather is usually great there and the scenery around the Big Island is awesome. I also strongly recommend the flight school (www.fly-hawaii.com) --they really did a thorough job on the ground and gave me lots of freedom when we were in the air. I left my first lesson with a "First Flight Certificate" and my pilot log book with details of my flight and key lessons learned detailed. I'll be using that log book to log additional flights as I work to earn my private pilot license.
^ ^ ^
Nov 24, 2006, 1:04 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi [+MKK4 EBBER R577 EDSEL R577 ELKEY EXERT]
Posts: 15,826
Great review. 
But, for housekeeping purposes, moving to the Hawaii forum where all Hawaii-related threads not related to Aloha/Hawaiian/Island Air/go! should belong.
--slippahs, Hawaii-based Airlines co-moderator
But, for housekeeping purposes, moving to the Hawaii forum where all Hawaii-related threads not related to Aloha/Hawaiian/Island Air/go! should belong.
--slippahs, Hawaii-based Airlines co-moderator
Nov 24, 2006, 6:20 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MSP (Mahtomedi, MN, USA) - Delta hub captive, Marriott Gold, US Mint Silver, CVS Red
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"...Cost of flight instruction is roughly $230/hour for flight time..."
since this is the only figure mentioned in your post, hopefully you can clarify a few things.
the casual reader might think that for $230, with no previous flight training, you can take off and fly and land your own place (with an instructor), taking a bunch of pictures and generally having a grand old time, making out like a bandit in terms of "fun hawaii stuff per dollar" terms, as long as you don't crash!
I suspect you had to sit through at least a few hours of classroom before getting behind the wheel, etc...
If you can, please summarize the total time and dollar investment you made.
Aside from this question, anyone know of a similar deal on the island of Kaua'i ? It sounds like a BLAST to me! And got to be twice the fun on the Garden Isle compared to Hawai'i !!!
since this is the only figure mentioned in your post, hopefully you can clarify a few things.
the casual reader might think that for $230, with no previous flight training, you can take off and fly and land your own place (with an instructor), taking a bunch of pictures and generally having a grand old time, making out like a bandit in terms of "fun hawaii stuff per dollar" terms, as long as you don't crash!
I suspect you had to sit through at least a few hours of classroom before getting behind the wheel, etc...
If you can, please summarize the total time and dollar investment you made.
Aside from this question, anyone know of a similar deal on the island of Kaua'i ? It sounds like a BLAST to me! And got to be twice the fun on the Garden Isle compared to Hawai'i !!!
Nov 25, 2006, 12:16 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
Programs: UA Global Services, HH Diamond
Posts: 5,178
Investment is Minimal
Originally Posted by wbl-mn-flyer
"...Cost of flight instruction is roughly $230/hour for flight time..."
since this is the only figure mentioned in your post, hopefully you can clarify a few things.
the casual reader might think that for $230, with no previous flight training, you can take off and fly and land your own place (with an instructor), taking a bunch of pictures and generally having a grand old time, making out like a bandit in terms of "fun hawaii stuff per dollar" terms, as long as you don't crash!
I suspect you had to sit through at least a few hours of classroom before getting behind the wheel, etc...
If you can, please summarize the total time and dollar investment you made.
Aside from this question, anyone know of a similar deal on the island of Kaua'i ? It sounds like a BLAST to me! And got to be twice the fun on the Garden Isle compared to Hawai'i !!!
since this is the only figure mentioned in your post, hopefully you can clarify a few things.
the casual reader might think that for $230, with no previous flight training, you can take off and fly and land your own place (with an instructor), taking a bunch of pictures and generally having a grand old time, making out like a bandit in terms of "fun hawaii stuff per dollar" terms, as long as you don't crash!
I suspect you had to sit through at least a few hours of classroom before getting behind the wheel, etc...
If you can, please summarize the total time and dollar investment you made.
Aside from this question, anyone know of a similar deal on the island of Kaua'i ? It sounds like a BLAST to me! And got to be twice the fun on the Garden Isle compared to Hawai'i !!!
For the entire first experience, which was roughly 3 hours total, which probably broke down to 2.25 hours of in-motion airplane time and .75 hours on-the-ground-not-moving time, I paid about $495.
You chose the flightplan with the instructor with weather in mind. Obviously, the more terrain you cover, the more time it'll take. On the Big Island, figure at least 2 hours+ for a full island flight or just 1 hour for a trip over to the Volcano area and back.
I thought about flying over Kauai (and Maui) but selected the Big Island over them because the terrain isn't as rough and the weather isn't as wild. While the volcano was a big plus for me, the weather was the greatest concern for me and KOA airport provides the best weather in the chain for first takeoffs/landings.
Some islands also offer helicopter flight lessons --there's a helicopter training company based at LIH airport if that's something you'd want to try too.
Nov 25, 2006, 12:39 pm
#6
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MSP (Mahtomedi, MN, USA) - Delta hub captive, Marriott Gold, US Mint Silver, CVS Red
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awesome deal, glad it worked out for you and bet you SOLD more than a few folks on the idea!
a real bargan compared to the "how soon can I pick up the next batch of paying customers" flight experience, I'm sure!
a real bargan compared to the "how soon can I pick up the next batch of paying customers" flight experience, I'm sure!
Nov 27, 2006, 12:52 pm
#7
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That's the coolest thing I have heard of in a long time. Thanks for the detailed report. I have asked for this for Christmas 
Edited to add: Sadly, the response from Ms. tkey75 when I proposed this as the perfect gift for me was, 'I don't want to die!', thereby killing my hopes of flying myself around the island this December
Edited to add: Sadly, the response from Ms. tkey75 when I proposed this as the perfect gift for me was, 'I don't want to die!', thereby killing my hopes of flying myself around the island this December
Last edited by tkey75; Nov 28, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Dec 20, 2006, 10:35 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
Programs: UA Global Services, HH Diamond
Posts: 5,178
Safe
That's the coolest thing I have heard of in a long time. Thanks for the detailed report. I have asked for this for Christmas
Edited to add: Sadly, the response from Ms. tkey75 when I proposed this as the perfect gift for me was, 'I don't want to die!', thereby killing my hopes of flying myself around the island this December
Edited to add: Sadly, the response from Ms. tkey75 when I proposed this as the perfect gift for me was, 'I don't want to die!', thereby killing my hopes of flying myself around the island this December
Jun 23, 2008, 6:17 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
Programs: UA Global Services, HH Diamond
Posts: 5,178
Sadness
It is with tremendous sadness that I report that the plane I flew has crashed... and my instructor perished in the crash along with two Japanese passengers.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ap...NTPAGECAROUSEL
It looks like they went on an island tour in the Cessna 172 on Tuesday morning and disappeared that afternoon. After a 5 day search over a large part of the island, wreckage was spotted and remains were retrieved.
Even with this one-in-a-million crash, I'd return to Kona airport and fly another one of their planes tomorrow if I could. The staff and equipment are safe and top-notch ...and I wouldn't hesitate to explore the Big Island from above even in the wake of such a sad tragedy.
My thoughts go out to those impacted by the crash.
And for those leary to try out such an adventure, I'd still recommend it. You have a better chance of being in a fatal car accident on Hawaii than you do being injured in a flying lesson like this.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ap...NTPAGECAROUSEL
It looks like they went on an island tour in the Cessna 172 on Tuesday morning and disappeared that afternoon. After a 5 day search over a large part of the island, wreckage was spotted and remains were retrieved.
Even with this one-in-a-million crash, I'd return to Kona airport and fly another one of their planes tomorrow if I could. The staff and equipment are safe and top-notch ...and I wouldn't hesitate to explore the Big Island from above even in the wake of such a sad tragedy.
My thoughts go out to those impacted by the crash.
And for those leary to try out such an adventure, I'd still recommend it. You have a better chance of being in a fatal car accident on Hawaii than you do being injured in a flying lesson like this.
Jun 23, 2008, 6:58 pm
#10
Moderator Hilton Honors, Travel News, West, The Suggestion Box, Smoking Lounge & DiningBuzz
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Very sad indeed.
Here's the local Hilo newspaper's story:
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/...ws/local01.txt
(use flyertalk/flyertalk for username/password if need be)
Here's the local Hilo newspaper's story:
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/...ws/local01.txt
(use flyertalk/flyertalk for username/password if need be)
Jun 24, 2008, 4:38 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
Programs: UA Global Services, HH Diamond
Posts: 5,178
Photos
Photos of my flying, the ill-fated aircraft, and my instructor are available here on my MySpace:
myspace.com/TheWeatherboy
in the "My Flying Adventures" album.
myspace.com/TheWeatherboy
in the "My Flying Adventures" album.
Jun 29, 2008, 9:07 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: Delta Skymiles
Posts: 98
Flight instruction is actually MORE dangerous than a single pilot out flying on his/her own, b/c of everything going on and the distractions that it can cause.
(Corey Lidell's recent accident in NYC comes to mind)
The old rule of thumb is that two pilots are often times more dangerous than one, b/c frequently...NOBODY is acting as pilot in command and they're distracted with the lesson instead of flying the airplane.
But, as a multi-engine, instrument rated private pilot with a few thousand hours of experience....I asked my wife if she wanted to check into renting a 172 and instructor to fly us around Maui this last week.
I thought it looked like fun, and I have no doubt I can still fly a 172 just fine, even though it's been 20 years since I owned one.
They're sort of like riding a bicycle.
(but, b/c I'd be looking out the window most of the time...I'd take along a CFI as a check pilot to keep me out of trouble and for the local knowledge)
Jul 4, 2008, 12:14 am
#13
Join Date: Apr 2004
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Does anyone know of a reasonably priced and reliable place to rent a plane (single engine C172) on Oahu? Are there any FBOs at HNL that someone has experience with? I am a private and instrument rated pilot and visit the Honolulu area at least once a year. In fact I was just there one week ago. I always make it a point to drive around the island of Oahu at least once (starting out from near Waikiki, west on H1, then H2, up to 99 then around on the King Kam highway and back down through the Pali tunnel.) I've always wanted to do the same tour but from the air! (except of course the Pali tunnel but it would be cool to fly over it!) I would imagine I would have to get checked out with a CFI before I can rent on my own. Mahalo!
Jul 19, 2008, 10:28 pm
#15
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On my first trip to the islands in 2003, I took along my logbook, airman's certificate, and medical certificate and rented a C-172 at Hawaii Flight Academy. Having never rented there before, I had to fly with their instructor (which was fine with me since flying in Hawaii is so different from any other environment I've ever flown in before). IIRC, it took us about two hours for a leisurely circumnavigation of the entire island with plenty of time for circling over Pu'u'O'o and Kilauea. While flying offshore, we generally stayed around 500' above the water, which gave lots of opportunities for spotting whales and huge manta rays. I highly recommend the experience for pilots and non-pilots alike.