Obviously, I wasn't able to take my RV-7A to Hawaii. It is interesting to note, however, that had I tried to fly there in my normally equipped RV, I would have been forced to ditch in the Pacific some 750 nautical miles west southwest of San Francisco for lack of fuel. After that, it would be a refreshing 1400 mile swim to Maui where I would arrive on the beach hungry and perhaps, a bit winded. So either way, if I try taking my own plane or we fly commercial, we still don't have an airplane when we get to Hawaii. So the next best option is to rent one.
I happened to see an AOPA video on flying around Maui in a Cirrus SR22. "That could be me", I thought. I followed that happy thought with, "Wow their advertising is really working." So I broke the bad news to Carol that we would soon be on vacation in Hawaii. I don't think I mentioned the flying part until after she had the travel and hotels arranged. Then there were the requisite scheduling issues, but in the end, it all worked out well except for the weather.
Maui Flight Academy appears to operate as a flight school, but based on their advertising, it seems that the bulk of their business is probably just pilots who get to Hawaii and want to go flying, but then realize that they don't have an airplane. Whatever their business model, the owner, Laurence Balter, is a heck of a nice guy and is really easy to fly with. For the purposes of these flights, he is acting as CFI, but he allows the pilot to fly as much or as little as they want in order to maximize the experience. Our original plan was to fly from Maui over to the big island to view some active volcanoes. We would have lunch over in Hawaii and then scoot on back to Maui to wrap up a nice day of flying and picture taking.
We enjoyed glorious sunshine on the preceding three days in Oahu and again in Maui on the day prior to our "flying" day. It would appear that after four consecutive days of this balmy nirvana my weather luck had been stretched beyond its limit. It was about 6:00 am in the morning when I got the first of several texts from Laurence advising me of his current weather concerns over the big island, which now included low ceilings and widespread precipitation. Our flight wasn't scheduled to depart until 10:00 am, so I wasn't too concerned -- yet.
We stood by at our hotel for several hours and it didn't look like there would be a weather miracle in the offing, so we bravely ran away, as they say, and decided to fly in the other direction. Instead of volcanoes on Hawaii, we would instead be seeing the very high sea cliffs and waterfalls along the north coast of Molokai. It actually made very little difference to me as my main concern involved making a full stop landing somewhere in Hawaii and securing my 49th flown state.
We arrived at the Maui Flight Academy hangar a little bit early which was truly surprising considering the excruciatingly slow pace that the islanders drive. After driving in Hawaii for a week, I needed a vacation back home to allow my blood pressure to settle.
After the introductions, Laurence and I briefed an abbreviated flight that would take us northwest over to Molokai and Lanai then back to Maui. This new plan would (hopefully) allow us a better chance at some decent weather.
While we taxi at Kahului international, Laurence and I discuss the differences between the Cirrus' Avidyne avionics and the Garmin displays in my RV.
Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of Jet traffic to wait for. We were only the second in line when we had finished the run up and checklist. Here we are just after takeoff, about to cross the beach and head out over the water. The fanny pack looking thing I'm wearing is actually a life preserver, which is kind of ironic because I've often thought that I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a fanny pack.
Soon we are crossing the Pailolo channel towards Molokai's north side. I fly very close in at about 1000' and follow the coastline to the west. Even at this altitude, the cliffs tower above us.
There is crappy weather ahead and the oncoming air traffic is causing frequent traffic alarms. The air traffic is all 500 feet above us and going the other way. Do they know something?
Occasionally the cliff faces give way to beautiful valley inlets allowing us a peek at the very lush and verdant interior.
After a bit, the weather cleared up nicely allowing me a chance to execute a touch and go at Kalaupapa. I made left traffic for 05 and followed the cowling mounted AOA display all the way to the pavement. Kalaupapa is the site of a former leper colony. Of course, we're ever so sophisticated these days, and now we say Hansen's disease instead of leprosy. Never-the-less, I made a mental note to count my fingers and toes when I got back.
Final for Kalaupapa airport (LUP), Molokai.
And then the weather closes in again. At this point, we decide to cut the tour short and we fly in the rain all the way back to Maui.
But just a few miles out, the clouds part, and I enter a left base to 05 at Kahului.
After a short taxi back, Carol snaps this final picture. Then we exchange signatures. Laurence signs my logbook and I sign his credit card slip. We part ways and cheerfully go on to other adventures like finding some lunch and surviving the Maui driving experience.
I found the Cirrus' side stick easy to get used to and I liked not having the control column in my lap. The control forces on the side stick were considerably higher than those in my RV-7A and the roll rate is noticeably slower. In the back of my mind, I had the feeling that I wasn't in my Miata anymore. The Cirrus felt more like a Crown Vic. But it was stable beyond all reason. Once it was trimmed out, it took very little effort to maintain altitude or heading. This was a cross country cruiser!
Back at our hotel room, we had this rainbow to look at. The colors were so vibrant it looked like neon. It's a pity that they aren't faithfully reproduced in this photo. That's when I had this idea: Carol could guide me using her cell phone from our room's balcony, while on the ground, I would try to locate the pot of gold at the rainbow's end. Had we been successful, we might have just paid for this vacation.
And so it goes. 49 states flown.
