Winter Window at Kahana

Thirty pilots congregated on a rare brisk and chilly tradewind day at Kahana on Saturday. Many hiked up but opted to hike back down because of the strong conditions. Twenty of us managed to get airborne, although only seventeen touched down on dry land. There are lessons to be learned from each of the splashdown incidents, but this story is a commemoration of the positive milestones of the day.

Diamond Head Derelicts

After the last three days of haze and southerly sea breezes, we were due for some decent flying weather. The forecast had called for more hazy sea breezes today, but boy were they wrong. Instead, we got a beautiful clear day with moderate south wind and a whole lot of flying at Diamond Head.

Auld Lang Syne

Thom already posted a scintillating story of the New Years Eve TFR Festival at Dillingham a few weeks ago, where we launched a record eighteen flying monkeys into the air above that peculiar peninsula. Since then Duck and I have both devoted a lot of time (and sacrificed a lot of brain cells) to bring you the following films of the final flights of 2011. Dillingham is our least understood and least explored site. I hope these videos of those unusual flights will inspire further exploration...

Lanikai Waltz

The super easterly tradewinds blew a passel of pilots to the precipitous path above Lanikai, to fill the skies at our most humble windward flying site. The east bowl was working great, from upper launch as well as the crotch launch. The airspace quickly became crowded, and we began the usual Lanikai dance, sort of an aerial version of musical chairs. I was joined by Thom, Don, visiting Oregonians Peter and Bill, and visiting brothers John and Bernie. I had to leave early, but I heard a few more folks came out later: Joey, Maui Abhay, Seattle Laura, Reaper, Bonnie, Harvey, Gaza, Laurel, Froggy Marc, and Berndt. A bit later, some folks flew at Kahana too, including some of the pilots from the first Lanikai session: Skydivers Mike Y and Derek, Woody, Thom, Peter, Bill, Duck, Maui JJ, and Kaaawa Larry.

Makapuu Home Run

Six different launch sites at Makapuu were graced with wings today. The day started with the early bird non-jobbers and a few visiting pilots. Jon Goldberg led the charge up to Cactus and beyond. For those newbies and for the older pilots that don't think he exists anymore, Jon was one of the first paraglider pilots here on Oahu. He has only flown three times in the last three years and I have flown with him all three times … what are the chances of that? Okay, pretty darn good.

The Crown Jewel

The winter flying season has finally kicked into high gear. Thanks to the long awaited arrival of a couple of remarkably well behaved frontal systems, we have flown seven different sites over the past seven days: Kahana, Makapuu, Lanikai, Koko Head, Nanakuli, Sunset, and Diamond Head. The current front has graciously stalled in place northwest of Kauai, providing consistent Kona winds for two days in a row, allowing us to fly both days at Diamond Head, the halcyon hallmark of wintertime flying on Oahu.

Sunday Gaggle at Nanakuli

I will provide a brief recap of the gaggle of pilots that filled the skies over Puu Haleakala this past Sunday, in some beautiful and light southerly conditions, rewarding those who were patient and/or lucky enough to choose the right cycle. I will recount the day's activities from my perspective, which turned out to be at 1,700 feet, near the summit, where I cleared an amazing launch, that is, if you feel like hiking to 1,700 feet in the heat.

West Wind Wildness

We are having one of those pre-frontal, wacky wind weeks with wads of visting pilots in our midst. Chasing the wind is like throwing money on a roulette table - not sure if you'll win or bust. Woody and I were heading North to check out his new digs, right near Kahana launch. We packed our wings just in case something might happen along the way. Well, it did...

West Side Wonder

I have to admit, I struggled to keep myself from going AWOL from work today when I saw the following post "Bernie: Bernie & John preparing to leave Bellows, est Nanakuli at about 1100, glad to hear other are considering Nan". But I ended up sticking it out, finally meeting Moises near the Nanakuli trail around 2:45pm.

Strapless

I know many of you have heard of my recent incident, and some of you may have reviewed the video of me doing a forward launch completely unclipped from the Kahana north ridge high launch. I have posted the complete unedited video below. My hope is that we will use this incident as a means to ensure and instill better safety practices at our flying sites.