Builders/Fliers in HI?

Hey All,
I'm an Air Traffic Controller stationed at Kaneohe Bay on Oahu...wondering if anyone is out in these parts? VAF is great but nothing beats those hands-on getting in/ dirty, crawling around experinces! Will work for food, beer, and/or knowledge!

-Jason

Dont get me started Jason----I've threatened several times to move to HI, and base out of Kalaeloa. Some sbout building hoses in a pair of shorts and a hula shirt year round intrigues me

Hawaiian RVers stay pretty quiet. They get offers all the time, if you know what I mean. There are a couple of owners on Oahu if the directory, but they didn't answer my calls when I was there looking for a ride to finish out flying in all 50 states in RV's. Looks like I will have to rig my -10 for a trans- Pacific flight.

When I looked in the directory before my recent trip to Kona, I didn't find ANY builders in HI (I mean the White Pages; did you use the Van's directory?). After spending a couple of weeks there, I only saw a couple of small aircraft flying near the North end. Everything else was tour aircraft and many, many helicopters. After seeing the $4.50 (approx.) for regular gas, I didn't even want to speculate on the cost of avgas. Add to that shipping for everything from kits to parts and I get the feeling that any builder/fliers in Hawai'i would have to be too rich to want to be bothered with the tourist masses, even if they are fellow RV'ers.

That said, I would also very much like to fly my (or any) RV in the islands.

There's a guy who built at least one rv-7 with a subie at barbers point. If you go hang around there you'll find a couple RVers in the community hangar.

Thanks guys, Looks like I'll have to start spending some more time at the Kalaeloa (old Barbers Point) station. Up at North Shore (Dillingham) its mostly sailplanes and their tugs its the Wild Wild West up there. I love going up there and watching the high wings fight the Crosswinds and crabbing like crazy! The transition helicopters are the majority of our traffic on the east side (besides our stationed helos and P-3's). I'm still in the dreaming stages and have written up a few cost excell sheets...I might just have to wait till I'm back on the mainland.

I had talkd to the Kalaeloa airport manager about 5 years ago, and he was very interested in more experimentals there. Too bad they didnt do something with Bellows; its a pretty good ride from Kanaeohe to Kalaeloa. What interested me was the RV's could go to all the islands, and with little airports on each of them, would make living in paradise sweet.

Flying from California in an RV is out of the question for me, but living there sounds awesome.
tom

Don't give up.

I'm enjoying reading this thread, as I learned to fly in Hawaii. I took my flight training from a now defunct school, located at Honolulu International. Most of my training flight touch and go's were out at Kalaeloa, and I still remember the crosswinds at Dillingham. It's important to note also that the runway at Dillingham looks awful narrow and short, compared to big ones at PHNL, especially when you're looking at it out your side window! I really enjoyed flying CC's to the neighboring islands, and giving rides around their coastlines. My wife and I were married on Sunset Beach (North Shore), and it was really cool to fly over that spot with her. Now that I live in Coolorado, I miss the sea level performance and of course the views are different, although equally beautiful.

My advice, is not to give up on flying in Hawaii. There are a few RV'rs there, but they are wary of "vacation renters." Even the schools charge for pretty long checkout rides for tourists. It makes sense though, since most people from the mainland aren't used to the Hawaiian procedures, airports or weather. The best way to fly in Hawaii would be to go there for a while, get a checkout with a school, fly as much as possible in a rental and meet people at the airports. Perhaps, you'll run into an RV'r doing that...