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Flying around Maui

Sep 16, 2015 in AVIATION
10 min read

Flying around Maui, Molokai and Lanai

If like me you would like to fly yourself around Maui, I highly recommend Maui Aviators at Kahului. The following is pretty much my recollection of the flight I did with them that includes a checkout and a slightly customized version of their Circle Maui County flight with instruction tidbits I got from the CFI I flew with, Steve Ludlow.

Mandatory boring disclaimer: There is obviously a lot more to flying the Hawaiian islands than what is described below - this isn’t supposed to be instruction, official source of information such as charts and chart supplements, or a substitute for good ADM or risk management. This is merely an account of what I remember, a few days later.

Driving around the back of Kahului airport to get to the East (GA) ramp, I had a few things in mind about the flight to come:

  • weather was likely going to be an interesting variable
  • Kahului (PHOG/OGG) Class C looked busy
  • the wind around here is nuts

I also knew the sights would be unbelievable. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

TL;DR

  • Map/Prepare your frequency switches and radio procedures
  • Report your position often. Very often. Every few minutes. all around the islands. literally.
  • Monitor the weather very closely
  • Practice your crosswind technique before you get in trouble. There will be crosswind. It will be gusty.

Weather

Hawaii is home to 10 of the 14 commonly recognized climate types [reference]. Fly/Drive/Ride around a couple of islands and it’ll become very apparent. Some areas get less than 10 inches of rain a year while another location a few miles away will get as much as 400 [reference]. In one single flight, I flew through blue skies with infinite visibility, gnarly rains, drizzle where visibility dropped to 3-5 miles, perfectly calm air, the most turbulent ones, and from one airport to another, gentle breeze to the worst gusty crosswinds. All of this is created by strong trade winds and the proximity of the ocean and high terrain: Molokai is home to the tallest sea-cliffs in the world, 3315ft high, and the Hale’a Kala on Maui goes from 0 to 10,023ft in less than 4 miles. “It’s always raining somewhere on this island”, had I been told: I can now say I experienced it first-hand.

With that in mind, check your weather radar. Getting the ATIS won’t tell you anything past the weather in the pattern. I would recommend you check it multiple times a day, over the course of a few days before your flight, to detect patterns. The northern part of Maui was the wettest while I was there while Kihei (South) was almost always sunny.

I was also told, while standing on the east ramp: if you can’t see Giggle Hill don’t go west, and if you can’t see Waiehu point, don’t go east.

Rain

Learn to identify the type of rain (drizzle vs heavy rain) and don’t go through something you can’t see through. When you’re around precipitations, report what you see on “open” frequency (ITAF/UNICOMs).

Winds

Practice landing with strong, gusty crosswinds. The Maui aviators checkout I went through included some touch-n-goes in challenging wind conditions. it’s not uncommon to have to land in double-digits gust factors and high-teens to twenties winds and it’s not on final, while trying to make sense of the winds, that you want to try and remember which ways the ailerons and rudder are supposed to go… Finally, once on the ground, keep those crosswind controls in!

In flight

The airspace around Maui is crowded with all sorts of traffic: tour helicopters, GA aircrafts, airliners, commuters… Most of the GA traffic make position reports. Tourist pilots are not exempt from those. As breathtaking as the sights are, you should always known where you are, at what altitude, and let others know too.

Altitudes

Below 3000ft, there is a convention in Hawaii that you should fly 1000/2000/3000 going West, and 500/1500/2500 going East.

Reporting points

We all learnt to identify reporting points on a sectional chart during primary training (the little magenta flag, the underlined names). Pilots flying around the islands of Hawaii take that to a whole new level: if I learnt anything during that flight it’s that there are never too many position reports. 3 things stuck with me for those position reports:

  • Find a phraseology that works for you and stick to it, but it must include:
    • who you are (tail number)
    • where you are (landmark AND altitude)
    • where you are going (direction of flight)
  • Learn the landmark names and practice saying them over and over. It sounds silly but all those hawaiian landmark names become a lot more complicated to read, say and understand while flying the airplane and with a headset on. If you’re not sure how to say them, ask a local. Also don’t hesitate to say along which shoreline you’re flying (Molokai North Shore/South Shore, etc). You’ll also hear some pilots say “Makai” or “Mauka” which respectively means “offshore” and “inland”.
  • Understand which frequencies to use, there are a lot of them. For a tour of Maui county you may change frequencies around 15 or 17 times easily. if you’re talking to someone, wait for a frequency change or request it. When flying from an island to the next, “mid-channel” is where you switch frequency.

Before you go, I strongly encourage you to “chair-fly” your itinerary and annotate your sectional with:

  • frequencies you’re going to use
  • reporting point names. Canyons, bays, peninsulas, tourist landmarks (estates, churches…)

See the bottom of this article for a suggested list of reporting points (the ones I was told about and that I could remember anyway)

Airports

I landed at 3 airports during my flight there: Kalaupapa, Hana and Kahului. We flew close to a couple more though. Here’s what I remember about them.

Maui

There are 3 airports on Maui: 2 of them for public use, and 1 private (Kapalua). Maui being a primary tourism destination, the main airport, Kahului (PHOG/OGG) is pretty busy. This is likely from where you’ll take off and land.

Kapalua (private)

Kapalua is located on the western shore of Maui that is home to some of the nicest high end resorts and the corresponding clientele. It is a private airport with a class E to the ground and a control tower (!). When flying around this area you really should talk to them (Kapalua Unicom) even when not in their airspace. A lot of tour helicopters are flying around to catch views of Honolua bay, Lahaina, etc. Don’t go land there without permission obviously, that’d be trespassing…

Hana

On the Eastern shore of Maui, Hana airport is very close to Wai’anapanapa State Park, AKA “black sand beach”, one of the most breathtaking places in Maui in my humble opinion. Hana is also where I enountered the strongest crosswinds, 90 degrees across the runway and very gusty: easily 15 kts gusting 20 or 25. Pattern is flown over the ocean, keep your eyes opened for traffic and make all your radio calls. Watch for the changes in the need for cross-wind controls as you get closer to the ground (ground effect, tree cover..), or you’ll be flying towards the grass and trees close to stall speed in no time. Such fun times! The north coast of Maui is also the wettest as far as I could tell: expect rain at some point between Hana and Kahului.

Kahului airport

PHOG/OGG is busy. There are airliners (I think there’s about a departure or arrival every 5 minutes or so, depending on the time of the day), tour helicopters (at least 5 or 6 operators, all operating multiple turbine helicopters such as EC-130s for tours) and some amount of general aviation (not a lot though). Of course you’ll also find cargo operators and island commuter airlines too. While it keeps the controllers busy, it’s not crazy either. You’ll have time to key the mike and make your calls. From what I could tell ATC was super patient and professional, even with my thick French accent and sometimes slightly sloppy radio calls. Do make a point to read back all clearances with your tail number!

Maui Aviators put together an incredibly helpful cheat sheet that you can find below. I had never seen one of those and it’s so brilliant I’d want one for every airport I fly in/out of. it breaks down the radio calls in the right order:

On departure:

  • get the ATIS
  • get your clearance and squawk code
  • get to the run up area (near the intersection of Runway 2-20 and taxiway E) and do your run up (The GA ramp is a non-movement area, no need to talk to ground at that point)
  • When you’re ready to go, pay attention to the markings on the pavement. From the run-up area you need a clearance from ground to taxi the 30 feet that separate you from RWY 2. You’re also likely to get an intersection take-off (which still leaves you with 5000ft of runway). you may also get instructions to cross the runway at foxtrot and tax all the way back, or to another runway
  • once you get your takeoff clearance, get up there as fast as possible and call HCF departure. You’ll stay with departure until they tell you to squawk VFR and “resume own navigation”.

On arrival:

  • get the ATIS
  • call HCF approach who will let you in the airspace and let you know when to call tower
  • when told, call tower who will issue the landing clearance
  • Once landed, either contact or monitor ground (tower will let you know)

Radio communications are pretty simple, but they do require common knowledge about the area. In the immediate vicinity of the airport, make sure to locate the golf course (W), the Paia mill (E), the quarry (SE) and the old sugar mill (S). Those will help enter and fly the pattern, which for runway 2 is flown easily following the Hana Highway. A little farther out, Opana point (NE), Makena (SE), McGregor Point (SW) and Nakalele point (NW) are the main reporting points to call HCF approach.

Molokai

Molokai has 2 public use airports, and one ITAF (Island Traffic Advisory Frequency): 121.95. On top of stating your reporting point, consider using “Molokai North-shore” and “Molokai South Shore”. The western part of the island is an area where currents of the north and south shore converge and subduct. I was told that if you lose your engine there and can’t make it to the shore, consider flying out west towards Oahu. People have died here from being submerged so quickly that even ships 5 minutes away couldn’t find them.

Kalaupapa Airport

The Kalaupapa airport is the only way to get to the Kalaupapa peninsula, known to be a quarantine area for people who contracted leprosy. It is now a National Historical Park. Like most airports, the pattern is flown over the ocean and like most coastal airports, you may encounter cross winds.

Molokai Airport

Did not land there but it is a class D airspace so you must establish 2-way communication (Molokai Tower). Don’t forget to get the ATIS first!

Lanai

Didn’t land there. Class E to the ground. Flying around Lanai, you can make all your position reports on 122.9.

Other miscellaneous items

Avgas

Few airports have fuel, and not necessarily 100LL (blue). Sometimes it’s straight avgas 100 (green). It smells different! It surprised me during the preflight checks - so make sure you know what your airplane burns. Oh and by the way, it’s easier to foul the plugs with avgas 100 (because it contains more lead). So don’t forget to lean for taxi!

Suggested reporting points

Maui

  • Kahakuloa
  • Nakalele point/blowhole (Call approach!)
  • Honolua Bay
  • Kapalua
  • Ka’anapali
  • Lahaina
  • Olowalu
  • McGregor point (Call approach!)
  • Kihei
  • Wailea
  • Molokini
  • Makena (Call approach!)
  • La Perouse bay
  • South Windfarms
  • Kailio point
  • Mokulau
  • Kipahulu
  • Alau Island (approaching Hana from the South/East)
  • Harrison’s estate (approaching Hana from the West)
  • Nahiku
  • Waihua
  • Keanae (KNI)
  • Jurassic Rock
  • Hole in the Rock
  • Huelo
  • Opana Point (Call approach!)

Molokai (not including the western part of the island)

  • Elephant Rock
  • Cape Halawa / Halawa Bay / Halawa falls
  • Papalaua
  • Wailau
  • Pelekunu
  • Kalaupapa
  • Kaunakakai

Lanai (north shore)

  • Little Shipwreck
  • Big Shipwreck
Taking Pictures from Aircrafts