I
THINK I WANT
TO GO BUT...
I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS
I'D
LOVE TO GO, HOW MUCH DOES IT COST ?
Believable Guides for Unbelievable Vacations
 |
From “O’ahu Revealed” by Andrew Doughty |
First,
I need to get something out of the way. Flying a powered hang
glider (known as a trike) is different than any other type of
aircraft. When I was growing up, I used to have a recurring dream
that I could flap my arms and fly like a bird. My father flew
little Cessnas, which, though fun, felt more to me like a car in
the air than flying like a bird.
I had forgotten my flying dreams until I reviewed a company on
Kaua’i that gave lessons in this odd little craft. As soon as my
instructor and I took off, I realized that a person really could
fly like a bird. This was what the flying bug felt like! I was so
smitten with the craft that I eventually hired the instructor on
Kaua’i to teach me, and now I fly trikes myself.
So although I
have no personal interest in any company teaching trikes in
Hawai’i, my perspective isn't as remote as it is for most
activities. After all, it's not possible to anonymously review
some companies, like Paradise Air, because I know the pilots.
(We're all members of the small ultralight community.)
With
that explanation, powered hang gliding is an activity I recommend.
Don't confuse this with hang gliding. This craft has an engine,
it's bigger and more stable, and some even have a powered
parachute attached to the craft…just in case (a safety feature
they're just beginning to install on traditional airplanes).
Trikes take off and land on
regular runways, and the ease and grace of the craft is
glorious. (Rent the movie Fly Away Home if you want to see what
they're like.)
It's as close to flying like a bird as any form of
flight I know. Trikes are what I have come to love so much and, in
my opinion, are the safest form of ultralight flight available.
(I'm not a daredevil and wouldn't fly them myself if I felt unsafe
in them, though any time you're in the air you're potentially at
risk, even on the airlines.) I grin like a fool every time I fly
and have never reviewed an activity that generates more
enthusiastic responses from other participants.
It seems that
whenever I see people coming off a trike, its passengers are
frothing at the mouth with excitement, proclaiming that it's the
best thing they've ever done on vacation. (Unless they're on their
honeymoon, of course; then it's
the second best thing.)
Paradise Air (497-6033) is out of
Dillingham Airfield on the North Shore. The pilots, Denise and Tom
Sanders,
are
very methodical in their
approach to giving lessons in their high-end aircraft and maximize
your time in the air. With two trikes operating, couples can fly
at the same time. They charge $115 per half-hour, $190 per
hour. They have cameras mounted on the aircraft (still and video
with multiple angles they can change on the fly) to get shots of
you that no one back home will believe
and can burn dvds of
your flight from multiple angles. (Pretty cool.)
Photos courtesy of Andrew Doughty