Diamond Head Dogz!

My first introduction to flying Diamond Head came long before I was a pilot, and it was actually pertaining to a select once-upon-a-time apparent hang glider that chose to soar those onshore winds. Gifts of Kona were the basis of the story: this was a connection between a Hawaiian spirit, with a passion for the view and the importance of place at the precipice of Diamond Head, and an unsuspecting Californian, a surfer who came to know and respect the particular form and shape of the mountain which formed the winds and the waves on which he rode.

The article was in The Surfers Journal, quite a few years ago now, and was about a time long before me. As I have been flying for approximately five years, it must be at least seven years ago that I read this story. It created an indelible image of a period in time and a way of life in which limits were being raised, a time when Diamond Head would have been soared by one and one alone, and so spiritual levels were raised. I would have to say that today was one of those days, in a modern way, and though we did not have Dave Goto to grace us with his presence, we did have Leo and Nancy, and about twenty paraglider pilots.

After beating Reaper to Diamond Head, and meeting with Motorhead, I thought that it was too west and not quite strong enough, so I decided to paddle out and surf till they made things look good, which did not take long. Many waves later, there were still only two aloft. As the morning progressed, I noticed that the winds were shifting more southerly, and the wave conditions were deteriorating, and that by all accounts it must be working despite the early flights to the beach I witnessed from the peaks of the waves. Just one more wave and then I was laying out my wing and longing to soar!



Cycles were difficult, and clawing our way through the thermal block was mandatory. I had just watched Joey, Eddie, and Motorhead join Alex and Reaper above the ridge, and I was now waiting out Ike's attempts to break through the thermal block that made the ocean waves into beautiful spectacles all day long! I had visions of every flight and every experience that I have ever shared with this area, and today was just such a day, a day when the spirits were shouting to us from the summit of Diamond Head to find our way up, and stay aloft, and drift though a sea of souls as they passed by Diamond Head.

The narrative of this story was an immersion, an osmosis function of Hawaii, and that the basis of becoming Hawaiianized meant releasing all of what you have to this sense of place; then and only then will we truly appreciate what we have in this place we call Oahu and begin to truly receive the gifts we are offered.

For many hours yesterday we soared the ridges of Diamond Head, and probably accumulated a total of fifty hours of flight, contributed by approximately twenty pilots of whom perhaps fifteen flew. Many had two flights or more, some upward of three hours, naturally!

But he’s flying Naturally (oh yeah), over mountains, Naturally, Over oceans, Naturally, Over mountains, Naturally, Over hillsides, Naturally. - Naturally, by Kalapana

It is a day similar to this which we shared with many souls that were touched by our wings. This was a true Hawaiian immersion and a vicarious spectacle of the nylon heavens.

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Thom's pictures

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Jim's pictures

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Alex's pictures

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Andrew's pictures

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More to come...