Recap Hawaii flying trip

[William J. Briskey]

I had a problem posting this to the list a few weeks ago so here it is again…

 

My wife and I traveled to Oahu and rented a house with two other PG couples: Peter D and Doug J.  We bought a lot of food, threw the receipts in a pile, and split up the cost at the end of the stay.  I have to admit that there might have been some drinking, but the eating was awesome since Doug and wife are both great cooks!  Dave B and Pete R were also on the island during our stay, both with their wives and staying at other locations.  

 

We tried to fly most days, but we all took a day in the middle to spend with our wives.  The bulk of the story goes like this:

Nanakuli, west side of the island - Jan 18th
Averaged 8 at the middle launch.  Peter had a wing tip problem right after launch, got into sink right away, and headed out to the ball field to land.  (A few beers might pry the full story out of him.)  Doug and Dave chose to pass and hiked down.  I had to work at it to bench up at first, then worked up to just over 1600 and landed at the beach.  Met a local girl when I was packing up and she wouldn't share what she was drinking from her brown paper bag so I didn't take her home.  A huge thank you to a local pilot, Ol' One Eye Jim for his guidance and hospitality.

19th -Makapu'u
Launched from Manic (it was in a depression near a viewing overlook) and didn't impress anyone with my abilities unless it was how well I straddled a "family-limiting" boulder as I left the ground.  My release of the "C"s was too early and I got lifted and spun before the glider gained forward momentum and carried straight toward a 4' high rock.  A quick "leap-frog" movement kept everything important intact.  Peter D joined me (he had a boring launch comparatively) and we flew along the SE cliffs of the island with scenery right out of the slick brochures, 7 miles one way.  Doug trashed a few lines on launch so couldn't join us, and he found out after that conditions had deteriorated to the point that the locals had all started launching at Crazy Man's nearby instead.  Meanwhile, Peter and I used a ears to stay out of the clouds and saw some sights such as "the Green Wall" that were really amazing.  Met Dave B when we retuned to the LZ and he followed us down.    We toasted the flight with brews and hashed over ideas of  how to get lines to fix Doug's wing.

20th - Lanikai
Doug's wing was still out of action, so Peter and I hiked up a steep trail to the top of a hill near Lanikai with some local pilots.  A WWII era pillbox seemed to attract sightseers who hung out to observe and wish they were us.  We launched from a little bowl and soared the area.  After about 30 minutes of ballet with five other pilots in the small area of lift, we followed the local club president (Alex Colby) to the beach to land because of a rain cloud moving our way.  We both nailed our landings amongst scantily-clad mainlanders and beached catamarans.  Dave Blizzard launched about the time we landed and spent quite a while in the air before he too, landed.  Although we didn't need a reason, we chose to celebrate with beers.

Still yearning for air time, we headed North to another site called Kahana.  Peter and I followed "Side Hill" up a pretty steep but short hike, pulling ourselves up through some steep sections by grabbing the trunks of small trees.  The launch was the best I'd seen so far, a steep slope with no boulders to jump over, just line-grabbing viney ground cover.  We both had successful launches but like the other pilots, had to immediately head to the beach because of very little wind.  The breeze was straight on shore so timing to turn upwind on a narrow beach was challenging since there were also tall trees on the downwind side.  We counted it and claimed our cold prizes for the day.

21st - We did a lot of driving and no flying.  However, good ol' One Eye came through with some lines we could use for Doug's wing!  So we celebrated.  Yes, there was beer.

22nd - My wife Teri and I drove around the island.  

23rd - Dillingham
There is a glider port at the North end of Oahu.  Besides gliders, it supports a pretty active bunch of skydivers.  We saw several jump from perfectly good airplanes while we were in the area.  At the end of the runway is a YMCA camp with a huge set of structures we think are for a "Ropes" course.  A 1/4 mile past that a trail used primarily by rock climbers and hardy mountain goats leads up through a steep boulder and tree obstacle course most of the way, after which you have to bushwhack off into the brush to another choice launch site.  This one had tall grasses hiding large boulders and the requisite rough volcanic rocks.  We were able to get Pete Reagan launched but the wind almost immediately backed off after he flew around the corner out of sight.  We figured he landed near his car (wife Bonnie was hiking nearby) but were very surprised to hear him yelling down at us as he flew over 20 minutes later. He scored over an hour in an area that the locals were rarely able to get any time.  We tried to get Doug off the hill but the cycles were too weak for his monster wing.  Peter and I ended up getting off with forwards and sledded to the beach below.  Dave B met us since he arrived late and had smartly delayed his decision to hike up.  Peter's right stabilo lines broke during some of the launching efforts so he patched them up with some 80lb fishing line later.  Beer.

24th - Kahana
We hiked up to a Makapu'u launch called "Juice" but intelligence prevailed and we didn't launch.  The launch was on a steep dirt hillside where you laid your wing right in front of a pole carrying 14kv power lines.  Although the wind was coming right up the hill, there were also power lines on two other sides and we were in the lee side of the topography from the actual wind.  If you didn't get blown back into the power lines, and didn't sink out into power lines below, you had to get enough lift to get to the proper LZ so as not to land on the beach out front or you had to buy off the lifeguards with apologies and beer.  Plus we were on the lee side of the cliffs that were behind launch. Another "interesting" Hawaiian launch example.

Some of the locals tried Dillingham, but we guessed correctly that it wouldn't work.  So back to Kahana we went and hiked up to a different launch.  This time there were actually ropes along parts of the trail that you could use to help pull your sorry self up the steep hillside.  Cripes!  Peter and I were able to follow a couple locals off the hill and sled to the beach again, but the wind slacked off so much that the next guy landed short in knee-deep surf and got his wing seasoned with salt.  The rest of the gang, about seven pilots including Doug and Dave, ended up belaying back down the hill.  We had to medicate ourselves from the efforts of the hike and, well, you know how that happened. 

25th - Nanakuli
The clock ran out on Doug so he and his wife Charlotta headed for cool and moist Oregon.  Peter, Dave, and I headed back to Nanakuli.  The wind was fairly stiff and gusty, with averages around 12 and peaks near 19.   Peter got off the hill with no problems and was able to climb out to about 1900 where cloud base was.  He found that as long as he stayed away from the rugged mountainside, the air was reasonably smooth; otherwise it was pretty turbulent.  He went back into the canyon a ways and suddenly got into sink and landed on a steep, boulder-strewn side hill.  It took about two hours for him to get his wing out of the bushes and hike out.  Meanwhile, I tried to help Dave launch but the wind had picked up and he got popped up and almost drug over the ridge.  The steep ridge was populated with bushes, volcanic rock, and a few small cacti, making it difficult to drop farther down the hill below the ridge for an easier launch.  So we walked down.  And drank cold beer.

26-28th - I spent the remaining few days with Teri, sightseeing.  Peter went over to Kona on the big island to meet family and fly some more.  I watched some pilots soar Diamond Head one day from afar but alas, there was no beer. :(  But Teri was happy so life was still grand!

Some comments if you plan to go yourself: 

- Link up with the locals using www.windlines.net.  You can post without asking to join and they will respond.  Many of them have been flying at the Rat Race because they don't get that kind of air in Oahu.

- Better plan on poor launching conditions, so that also means kiting skills are critical.  

- The locals drink beer too.

--
Bill B