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Any RV activity in Hawaii?

Scott Will

Well Known Member
Heading to the Big Island for a week in a few days. Just wondering if there are any RVers in this part of the world?! Are there any good GA airports? Thinking about brining my certificate/medical/etc so perhaps I could go rent a plane with a CFI for a while. We're staying in Kona and I might need my RV fix while we're there for a week.

Thanks and Aloha!
 
A quick search of the FAA website shows three RV's in Kona - an RV3 and 4's.

Wish I was going with you, Kona is my favorite place in the islands.
 
Hawaii Airport Info

Scott,
Check out Hawaii's state site at http://www.hawaii.gov/dot/airports/

There are numerous links there for flight training, rental cars, etc. at each state operated airport, organized by island.

In addition to the international airports at Kona and Hilo, the Big Island also has two state operated GA airports: Upolu (UPP) and Waimea-Kohala (MUE).

Upolu is at the northern tip of the island, near Hawi. Single runway (no taxiways). No tower, aircraft rescue and fire fighting facilities, etc.

Waimea-Kohala Airport is one mile south of the town of Kamuela. Single runway, no taxiways; small apron at the west end of the runway for the small passenger terminal and general aviation facilities. Again, no tower but ASOS and fuel are available.

The Big Island has some incredible terrain and you'll get the best view from the air.

Some local instruction (on the Big Island vs. Oahu or Maui) is highly recommended-weather, terrain, and flight restrictions (military training and volcanic activity come to mind) present some unique challenges.

Have fun and stay safe,
Mike
 
I've done some flying with an instructor on Maui a couple of times. It's a heck of a lot cheaper that getting a tour on a helicopter and more fun since you get to fly (even though not an RV). On Maui, it's always very windy, 15 to 25 mph winds most of the time, so it is best to get with an instructor. There are reporting procedures in place for flying around the islands. I'm sure that you could find the same kind of deal with a plane and instructor on the Big Island.
When I was on Maui in May 2006, I hooked up with RV-6A builder and pilot Greg Grigson who was living on Oahu at the time and he graciously flew over to Maui, picked me up, and gave me an RV tour of Maui. I don't know if Greg is still living in Hawaii, as he said he was getting ready to move to New Mexico. Anyway, here's some of the pics I took.
Maui from an RV
( :D Shameless plug-I own a condo on Maui that I rent out if anyone is planning a vacation there. Email me for details.)
 
RVWP Hawaii

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[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Grigson, Greg[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]808.396.8731[/font]
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Kona Airport

If you get the chance go to Kona International and look up the chopper flight school there (sorry don't have the name available right now). When I was there for ten days, I took lessons in an R-22 which was cheaper than the tour flights, not to mention getting stick time. I got to fly to some out of the way places which were breathtaking. You also have not experienced life until you drop off a volcano vent on the side of Mauna Loa in an eggbeater with the terrain dropping off a thousand or so feet instantly! WOW! :D

The big island is also my favorite.
 
The school is called Mauna Loa Helicopters

My sister was an instructor there till about a year ago. She's now flying tours out of Hilo in MD500s & AStars.

I actually logged some instruction there and was one of the few people they had able to hover in the first 15 minutes of flying a heli. :) Made me all warm and fuzzy. I almost changed careers and started flying helis after that. Even my wife enjoyed our time in the R44 they had there.

Have fun... I miss the big island!

Cheers,
Joshua
 
Did a full load tour with Island Hoppers at Kona in their 207, and it was a blast! 1.5 of 'dual received' with 5 family members in the back for less than half the going tour rate, and we were on our own schedule. They also do the same thing with 172's.
 
Maui Aviating

I rented a 172 with an instructor on Maui last June. It was a lot of fun, but I came away thinking you'd need about ten times the determination and money to fly there than back home.

The airports are all like Fort Knox to get into and the only one on Maui with fuel or hangars is the big one. The 100 octane high-lead fuel (not 100LL) was $10/gallon. The few GA hangars I saw all seemed to be commercially owned, so I don't know where you'd keep an RV if you had one.

And you definately want an instructor for a joy ride. After four years of flying nothing but my RV, I discovered I'd forgotten how to fly a 172 -- especially in their standard 25 knot trade wind. I kept flaring too much and that giant wing would catch the wind and push me all over the place. That's a big problem in a 172, since you have to tell it what you want to do
about 3 seconds before it actually does it. He had to save my first touch-and-go at Malachi, and I saw him reach for the yoke on our last touchdown back at Maui before I got it straightened it out. I felt like a real trainee. And to make matters worse, the guy had never heard of an RV. I think he thought it was some sort of ultralight.

Two things I learned on Maui. It's a wonderful place for a vacation, but I'd have to give up flying to live there. And an RV will ruin you for anything else.
 
BIg Island RV'ers?

Any on this forum here located on the Big Island? I've done the 172 tour around Maui/ Molaki, but haven't done any flying around the Big Island and would love to hook up with an RV'er.

Cheers,

Jim
 
Aloha, Rick

Please check your PM's
I've done some flying with an instructor on Maui a couple of times. It's a heck of a lot cheaper that getting a tour on a helicopter and more fun since you get to fly (even though not an RV). On Maui, it's always very windy, 15 to 25 mph winds most of the time, so it is best to get with an instructor. There are reporting procedures in place for flying around the islands. I'm sure that you could find the same kind of deal with a plane and instructor on the Big Island.
When I was on Maui in May 2006, I hooked up with RV-6A builder and pilot Greg Grigson who was living on Oahu at the time and he graciously flew over to Maui, picked me up, and gave me an RV tour of Maui. I don't know if Greg is still living in Hawaii, as he said he was getting ready to move to New Mexico. Anyway, here's some of the pics I took.
Maui from an RV
( :D Shameless plug-I own a condo on Maui that I rent out if anyone is planning a vacation there. Email me for details.)
 
Greg is now living in New Mexico (1 year) and his RV6A is there also..(shipped).. He flew over to St. John's one morning not too long ago for a get together & lunch.. His 6A is really nice and must have been a project to disassemble, ship it and reassemble it here... He's a great guy and I hope we get together more..
 
Any RVer's in Hawaii update ?

Looks like Greg has moved back to the mainland.

Anyone know if there are any other RV'rs based on the islands ?
I'll be sun'n and fun'n in Honolulu at the Outrigger Wakiki from Thursday the 19th thru Tuesday the 24th.

Would love to catch an RV ride if possible.
 
Resurrecting an old thread. Same deal, going to Oahu Dec 31 - Jan 5 (corona willing), looking for any RV, or heck, even any GA connections. Lived there for 8 years until 2014, so I am familiar with the islands, but that was before my flying days. I would love to fly with someone, willing to do my “pro rata” share ;), or I can trade some dual given (CFI). If flying is out, would still like to grab coffee or something and talk GA in Hawaii. I fly an RV-6, or a Warrior, can get by in a Cessna.
 
A couple of years ago my wife and I did a helicopter tour of Oahu in a Hugh's 500D. We had a forced landing (a story in and of itself) at a high school soccer field at Kaneohe and while waiting for the company mechanic to show up, the pilot and I had a nice conversation about aviation in Hawaii. His opinion....it massively sucks, mainly from a cost standpoint, from a regulation standpoint, from a crowded-skies standpoint, and from the generally draconian attitude of the Hawaiian government toward non-tourist aviation.

I go to Hawaii, various islands, for a week or 10 days every year and have done so for more than decade. For me, it defines the phrase "nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there". And over the last few years as the "what can we do to squeeze one more tourist in here?" mentality exacerbates, the crowds and traffic have just made the place intolerable (to me...) and I don't really care to even visit there anymore, let alone fly around there. I did enjoy Oahu when we were there, but we stayed on the much-less-crowded North Shore. The traffic around Honolulu was brutal though...enough to keep me from going back.

Yes, I'm a curmudgeon. We're going again this year because my wife likes the place and we're going again with a group of friends.):rolleyes:
 
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Field Report

So I went to O'ahu last week to visit friends and family, and happy to report that there is indeed a pretty good representation of Van's aircraft there. I went down to PHNL, on the Lagoon Drive side, and snooped around. Moore Air seemed like a good possibility for renting a plane based on their website, but they are defunct.

So I ended up at Pacific Flight Academy, which among their fleet has 2 RV-12 S-LSAs. I talked with the owners a bit, and they also have a 1991 RV-6(A?) kit at around the FFWD/finish kit stage that they hope to complete, either with a Honda conversion or O-320 FP (I recommended the O-320 route to get up and flying quicker).

I ended up flying their Vashon Ranger R-7 halfway around the island and back, and we landed in the heaviest rain I have ever flown in, short approach, 8kt quartering tailwind into PHNL, but it was good fun. The CFI I flew with was a local guy, and we hit it off, and he handled the comms (there are specific VFR departures out of HNL due to mountains and traffic), but otherwise I could fly wherever I wanted. He recommended getting checked out on their Cherokee 140, since they don't really use it for training, and you can take it overnight inter-island. The rates weren't terrible, and I got way more for my money than a 15 min helicopter tour.

A couple pics
IMG_7046.jpg
IMG_7041.jpg
IMG_7039.jpg
 
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