Flying Circus

At Kahana on Saturday, we shattered all previous records for pilot numbers. By my unofficial count, at least 41 pilots came out, and 34 of them flew, including 13 visitors. At one point I counted 17 wings in the air, but others reported even more, up to 21 airborne at one point. That is surely the largest gaggle of pilots ever witnessed in Hawaii! Thanks to all the visiting pilots for helping us create such an attractive spectacle.

I got to do a couple of very fun tandems, first with Greg from Canada, and then with Meagan the sailplane pilot. Conditions were on the stronger side, and no one ended up going downrange, but it was a fun day to just buzz around the bay with such a big crowd.

We had a few exciting moments, as usual on day with so much flying happening. Visitor Doug from California tried to cross the bay, despite the strong easterly airflow, but ended up too low to either try and work his way up or to retreat to the beach, so he was forced to set down on the side of the hill behind the last house under the crouching lion. That was probably the best of a whole bevy of bad options!

Jayson took a bunch of great pictures, many of them starring me in my tandem, which I've included above. If anyone else got any pictures or video worth sharing, please let me know and I'll include them as well.