HNL FBOs and Aerial Sites

[hokieflyer]

I'm going to be working in Honolulu for a few months (flying a desk) and was wonding if anyone had any recommendations on a good FBO for rentals.

How about island hopping? Should I rent from HNL (where I'll be living) to go island hopping or should I get checked out in Maui to explore Maui, Hawaii to explore Hawaii, etc.? I'm a bit concerned about taking a single across that much open sea. Any specific sites that are 'must flyovers'?

Thanks in advance,
hokieflyer

 

[Bustamove]

Hokieflyer:

I rent out of Anderson Aviation on HNL. They've got the standard piper rental lineup with a Cardinal thrown in to keep it fair. There's also a Cessna Flight Center.

Inter-island is pretty easy. I feel safe heading east in the Arrow since you can easily get enough altitude to stay in gliding range of dirt, or at least sand. They've got a Travelaire but you probably know about the difficulties of renting twins.

Rates for the Arrow are $100/hr wet. The Cardinal's a little less and I'm not sure about the Archers but probably around $80.

One caveat is that most of their business is in training so overnighters are not an option. Still, sightseeing along the north coast and lunch on Maui isn't a bad deal.

Their number is (808) 833-7437. PM me if you need more info, or if you want to see if we can work out some shared flight time.

 

[davessn763]

Anderson Aviation

The Cardinal is a great interisland bird, but I preferred the D95. Make sure you get overwater survival training and maybee invest in an EPIRB. I flew with Anderson for 3 yrs. Island flying is the best!!!! Be very famialiar with all the restricted airspace.

 

[cvplt]

If you like flying c-172's, try Mueller Aviation. They have the best price on the ramp and the plane is nice. Have fun and be sure to fly over to the big island to check out the volcano. But before you get to the volcano, know the freq. that the tour operators are on. It can get crazy if there is a good lava flow. Flying at night out there is pretty much IFR. It is very dark.