Hawaii Multi Engine Time Building 808-640-9622
Hawaii Flight Adventures Inc.
Multi-Engine Time Building in Hawaii
Every Airport (15!) and Every Island (9) in One Day and About 8 Hours! Lets go FLYING!
Part 1 Kona to Hilo:
First off, I made that picture above using Firefox addon "SureShot" and the website is SkyVector.com Great for preliminary flight planning with METAR/TAF weather when you hover your mouse over select airports :) DOES NOT substitute proper planning or FSS/Approved weather briefings!
All right, let's start building some multi engine time in Hawaii!
Up early to take advantage of the calm morning air, nice and cool too. We will meet at the Kona International Airport (PHKO/KOA), commuter air terminal for a preflight briefing of route, weather, notams, etc... Lets head out to our beloved PA-23-160 Apache, aka "Silver Bullet" lol, for a good preflight inspection. Snaks, Extra Oil, Cameras, Brains, Check! Lets Go!
Departing the Kona Airport we will take full length just because it is wise and this will be the rule of the day. No intersection departures as "runway behind us" is just one of those useless things in aviation.
The Kona airport is BIG 11,000'x150' with all the bells and whistles you could ask for.
Expect smooth mountain breeze crosswinds in the evening/night/early mornings and gusty ocean breeze cross winds during the day. Great VFR weather 360 days out of the year!
Departing Kona we will head south towards south point taking us past Kailua Kona and the Kona Coffee farms along the sides of Hualalai (8,271') and Mauna Loa (13,679'!) volcanoes. This slope seems gentle but it will eat you alive, literally, because that gain happens in only 10-20 miles! Far beyond the Vy climb capabilities of our Silver Bullet! Notice the poor visibility around the south west side of the Big Island. This is due to the volcano polution known as "VOG" short for "Volcanic SMOG". Do not worry! Our polution is 100% all natural and organic! :) lol
Approaching South Point we will most likely cross a wind shear line that is usually near Hawaiian Ocean View Estates or "HOVE" as we like to call it. This wind shear is due to the Hawaii "Trade Winds" that blow in from the North East 350~ days of the year. Learn more about Hawaii Trade Winds Here.
The bumps can be pretty rough through this area but only for a minute or two. Tighten your lap belts and slow to Va or about 20" map until the big bumps subside. We will be passing the Green Sand beaches and Punalu'u Black Sand beaches here as well.
From South Point to the Kilauea volcano eruption area we can expect a 20 head wind that decreases slightly with altitude. The Kilauea South Rift sea cliffs ahead will also produce occasional light to moderate chop at lower altitudes below 3,000 msl.
The Eruption Area!
There are three things that are always changing at the eruption area: Weather, Traffic, and Lava Activity! Out of more than 4,000 trips to the Kilauea Eruption Area I have never seen it the same twice. This is when you need to wake up, pay attention, talk, listen, watch, and have one of the best experiences of your life! This is where your CFI will really pay off and help keep you separated from everyone else rubbernecking at Brand New Planet Earth! Your CFI will brief you thoroughly on tour operations in this area prior to getting there on what to expect.
Weather: The eruption area is an 8mi x 8mi x 8mi triangle with a "vent cone" at the top sending lava down hill towards the ocean in surface flows or "tubes" and this changes by the *Hour*, not day. The rainfall at the top of the hill, or 2,500' elevation is about 150"-200" inches per year while the shoreline receives about half of that! the clouds like to base between 1,000 and 2,500 msl so it can be difficult to get to the top of the hill about half of the time where the shore line is usually easy access. This is also the area that makes national news regarding homes being destroyed by lava. You can expect lines of heavy rain showers, low clouds/vis and beautiful sunshine and scattered clouds in between along the East and North shores of all the islands due to the trade winds pushing moisture into the islands.
On to Hilo!
Form the eruption area we will either continue along the shoreline for a south east arrival or head due North from the eruption area for a south arrival into Hilo International Airport (PHTO/ITO)
Nice gentle and WET trade winds out of the north east should give us a gentle cross wind on 08 or 03. 150-200 inches of rain per year at the Hilo airport makes Hilo Town the wettest zipcode in the nation! It will either be raining so hard that the airport will be Low IFR or it will be beautiful blue skies, scattered puffy clouds, and glistening deep green rain forest. More likely, you will see both several times during the trip today! Changes Fast!
After our stop and go, preferably on runway 08-26, we will be turning out to the North West on our way to Upolu Point...
Part 2 will be Hilo to Upolu Point (PHUP/UPP) and Kahului (PHOG/OGG) Maui
 |
| multi engine time building hawaii Click to enlarge |
All right, let's start building some multi engine time in Hawaii!
Up early to take advantage of the calm morning air, nice and cool too. We will meet at the Kona International Airport (PHKO/KOA), commuter air terminal for a preflight briefing of route, weather, notams, etc... Lets head out to our beloved PA-23-160 Apache, aka "Silver Bullet" lol, for a good preflight inspection. Snaks, Extra Oil, Cameras, Brains, Check! Lets Go!
Departing the Kona Airport we will take full length just because it is wise and this will be the rule of the day. No intersection departures as "runway behind us" is just one of those useless things in aviation.
The Kona airport is BIG 11,000'x150' with all the bells and whistles you could ask for.
 |
| Click To Enlarge Kona Airport Diagram |
Expect smooth mountain breeze crosswinds in the evening/night/early mornings and gusty ocean breeze cross winds during the day. Great VFR weather 360 days out of the year!
Departing Kona we will head south towards south point taking us past Kailua Kona and the Kona Coffee farms along the sides of Hualalai (8,271') and Mauna Loa (13,679'!) volcanoes. This slope seems gentle but it will eat you alive, literally, because that gain happens in only 10-20 miles! Far beyond the Vy climb capabilities of our Silver Bullet! Notice the poor visibility around the south west side of the Big Island. This is due to the volcano polution known as "VOG" short for "Volcanic SMOG". Do not worry! Our polution is 100% all natural and organic! :) lol
Approaching South Point we will most likely cross a wind shear line that is usually near Hawaiian Ocean View Estates or "HOVE" as we like to call it. This wind shear is due to the Hawaii "Trade Winds" that blow in from the North East 350~ days of the year. Learn more about Hawaii Trade Winds Here.
The bumps can be pretty rough through this area but only for a minute or two. Tighten your lap belts and slow to Va or about 20" map until the big bumps subside. We will be passing the Green Sand beaches and Punalu'u Black Sand beaches here as well.
From South Point to the Kilauea volcano eruption area we can expect a 20 head wind that decreases slightly with altitude. The Kilauea South Rift sea cliffs ahead will also produce occasional light to moderate chop at lower altitudes below 3,000 msl.
The Eruption Area!
There are three things that are always changing at the eruption area: Weather, Traffic, and Lava Activity! Out of more than 4,000 trips to the Kilauea Eruption Area I have never seen it the same twice. This is when you need to wake up, pay attention, talk, listen, watch, and have one of the best experiences of your life! This is where your CFI will really pay off and help keep you separated from everyone else rubbernecking at Brand New Planet Earth! Your CFI will brief you thoroughly on tour operations in this area prior to getting there on what to expect.
Weather: The eruption area is an 8mi x 8mi x 8mi triangle with a "vent cone" at the top sending lava down hill towards the ocean in surface flows or "tubes" and this changes by the *Hour*, not day. The rainfall at the top of the hill, or 2,500' elevation is about 150"-200" inches per year while the shoreline receives about half of that! the clouds like to base between 1,000 and 2,500 msl so it can be difficult to get to the top of the hill about half of the time where the shore line is usually easy access. This is also the area that makes national news regarding homes being destroyed by lava. You can expect lines of heavy rain showers, low clouds/vis and beautiful sunshine and scattered clouds in between along the East and North shores of all the islands due to the trade winds pushing moisture into the islands.
On to Hilo!
Form the eruption area we will either continue along the shoreline for a south east arrival or head due North from the eruption area for a south arrival into Hilo International Airport (PHTO/ITO)
Nice gentle and WET trade winds out of the north east should give us a gentle cross wind on 08 or 03. 150-200 inches of rain per year at the Hilo airport makes Hilo Town the wettest zipcode in the nation! It will either be raining so hard that the airport will be Low IFR or it will be beautiful blue skies, scattered puffy clouds, and glistening deep green rain forest. More likely, you will see both several times during the trip today! Changes Fast!
 |
| Click To Enlarge hawaii multi engine time building |
After our stop and go, preferably on runway 08-26, we will be turning out to the North West on our way to Upolu Point...
Part 2 will be Hilo to Upolu Point (PHUP/UPP) and Kahului (PHOG/OGG) Maui
-Multi Engine Time Building In Hawaii-
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