got back last night from 10 days Oahu and big island... did a 2 hour tour of the big Island on Blue Hawaiian helicopters.. absolutely worth every penny of the outrageous price of 450 per... interresting thing happened on our trip over..arriving honolulu we came in over Maui and up to oahu.. looking out the window I spotted a cessna below far out over the water between Maui and Molokai.. learned later that night on the news a cessna was missing on a flight from Maui to Molokai. I know it had to be him since general aviation is rather rare in the islands...after 3 days the search was called off after finding a nose wheel and door on a beach on Maui...Sad...

Rented a 152 from the FBO on Maui on my last stay there. Really worn out, corroded, and not so fun. The check pilot left the end of the belt out the door and we had to inspect again to find the noise. The attitude gyro made enough noise to be heard over the engine. Another stop to ask about that problem. Rented headset and got some info on the flying on the island. Ok flight, big wind and some airline traffic.
The aircraft was a good reminder of what 20 years, 5000 hr and sea salt will do. A great reminder why I have no flown at 150/152 in many years.

I did a tour with Wings Over Kauai http://www.wingsoverkauai.com/photos.php in their 172 when I was there a few years ago. I wanted to get checked out but there were no rentals available on Kauai at that time, probably not now either. It was just me and Bob and he offered to let me fly from the right seat but I told him I may as well enjoy the view and take pictures. He gave me a pretty good deal though, under $200 for nearly two hours. It was pretty spectacular scenery and every few minutes Bob would point out things like "There's the hotel where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii", "There's the beach where Harrison Ford crashed the Beaver in "Six Days and Seven Nights", "There's the waterfall in Fantasy Island", There's the waterfall from the opening scene of "Jurassic Park", "There's the beach from King Kong".......

Then there was the stunning Na Pali coast which can only be seen from an aircraft, boat or on foot and where the ancient Hawaiian royalty lived.

But despite the grandeur of it all I could sense that after 14 years of flying folks around that little island Bob was a little burnt out on it. I guess there's always the pitfall of too much of a good thing.

our Blue Hawaii helicopter pilot was retired Coast Guard and retired Navy both and he flew falcons as a corporate pilot... been flying Blue Hawaii for 5 years and said he never gets tired of it... flies 6 hours a day...

I have the same story as silvaire. No planes to rent in Kauai so my step son and I went with Bob too. Nice guy and very professional. Good price (for Hawaii) and saw a lot of beautiful scenery. When we were leaving he told us the two jets there were Ben Stiller and his wife's. I guess they came in on different days so they each brought their Jets. Guess I should have been a movie star!

I've rented twice in Maui, the first one a 172 in the mid 70s and the second a 152 in the mid 80s. Can't recall whether it was from the same FBO, but both airplanes were in good condition. In each case, we flew from Maui out around Molokai, then back to Maui. In the first, we circled around in the air above a pod of whales, just west of the island near Lahaina. In the second, we then flew up over Mt. Haleakala and around the island a bit before landing. Gorgeous scenery.

There's a program of island flight following that is pretty strictly followed, with regular reports required at specific checkpoints. The only issues I can recall were that the winds at the airport at Kahului are really squirrely--not a problem if you're accustomed to it, but it could be a challenge for some.

Cary

I learned to fly in Hawaii, accompanied by the usual "speed bumps" common to learning to fly anywhere. Cessna 150, and flew to all the "accessible" islands, including landing at Kalapapa Point the first week the airport was open to the public.

Hawaii is indeed a spectacular place to fly. As noted, even when I was there (1960's) ATC had an "Island Watch" program, requiring reporting. Landed on Lanai once to unload the bladder and was quick.....got yelled at when I came back up on the freq. Warm water there, but still. Good programs.

It's a fun place to explore from the air.

MTV

The ex wife has lived on the Big Island for 20 some years now, and I used to get over there fairly often for visits, before she got remarried and ruined that sweet deal! But...though I did no flying while there, I do remember thinking that unlike my usual stomping grounds of Wyo., Idaho, and Montana, the opportunities of discovering new off airport sites would be slim to non existant, so pretty much just flying from airport to airport over a lot of water or thick vegatation, pretty yeah but I like the ugly mostly bare mountains around here better for my kind of flying. Did I mention the ex got remarried? I do regret never taking a helicopter tour though.

The ex wife has lived on the Big Island for 20 some years now, and I used to get over there fairly often for visits, before she got remarried and ruined that sweet deal!

There's a reason we call them "ex"!

Cary