Wings of an Eagle

Karen and I recently enjoyed an anniversary vacation to Hawaii.

We spent several days on the island of Maui, and for one of those days we paid a visit to Hana, the town on the far northeast side of the island.  The road to Hana is considered one of the best experiences on the island.  Some say the best thing is a luau, and some say snorkeling or sailing. 

It turns out they are all wrong. 

This is my story.

At the end of our drive to Hana we found ourselves at the end of the Hana airport runway in the hangar belonging to Armin Engert, owner of Hang Gliding Maui and the pilot and instructor for powered hang gliding flight. 


Armin is a very gentlemanly fellow who took the time to get to know us before the excitement began.  He has been flying for many years and many thousands of hours.  We talked about his "trike", the beautiful little red powered glider.  It turns out to be different from what most think about when they hear the words "hang glider".  His vessel is powered.

Now, you might be thinking about an ultra light craft, but his is actually over the ultra light's 250-pound weight limit.  His 500-pound machine is a two-man, larger engine craft that the FAA allows to be flown for training purposes.  So this was a day for my first flying lesson.

After donning the appropriate (and very cool) leather garb, Armin helped me into the back seat and pushed the vehicle back out of the hangar.  Within moments the engine was roaring and we were off.  Armin sat confident in the front seat, I sat in the back, giddy as a school boy just starting Christmas vacation.

Shortly after takeoff, runway at top right

The runway is quite short and it only took a moment to taxi to the "8" end of the runway.  (Armin explained the 8 on one end and the 26 on the other, referring to 80 and 260 degrees which refers to the runway's compass bearing.)  Suddenly the engine roared to life and we were accelerating quickly into the somewhat gusty wind.  We never came close to the "26" on the other end of the runway; in fact we used hardly any of the runway at all.  Karen barely caught out ascent; with the wind bearing down on us we quickly achieved sufficient lift and were on our way.
 

Armin assured me before the flight that the first 200 feet of air would be the roughest, and he was right.  Within seconds we were well above that first layer and moving higher and higher into smoother altitude.

Wow; what an amazing feeling to be in the open air!  I could feel the buffeting winds on my body as we sliced through the cool air.  Looking down I could see the ocean, and runway already far behind us.

Then the instruction began.  Armin taught me the basics about flying a powered glider.  He explained that the body holding the seats and engine is essentially dangling underneath the wing, and the wind stays pretty well fixed in position relative to the body.  By grabbing hold of the controls (handles on the wing) I was able to "steer" or shift the wing forward, back, left and right.  By moving it into one position it would stay there; thus if I shifted it so that we started to climb, it would stay in that climbing angle, or if I shifted it so that we were moving right, it would continue to move right.  This makes maneuvering very easy.

Armin asked me to fly between two clouds, and then between two more, and then towards one more.  It was an exhilarating experience to be out in the open, flying up into the clouds.  It was just like I had imagined (maybe better) and very similar to many of the flying dreams I have had.

Spinning over the red sand beach

While over the red sand beach Armin demonstrated a tight cornering spin to the happy surprise of the butterflies in my stomach.  We flew over a couple of black beaches and then over land.  Soon we beheld the majesty of a tall waterfall, green trees. Pat Benatar's island home. A few minutes later we were high still, in the cloud layer.

 in the clouds, engine off

As we ascended from below the clouds into the clouds I was able to put my hands out and feel the air change to something misty, dense and cool.   The cloud layer was the smoothest portion of the journey.  Above, below and all around I could see clouds, with occasional breaks through to the land, sea, and clear sky.  At one point Armin then shut off the engine and all I could hear was the wind rushing by and Armin's occasional voice explaining what we were experiencing.  We flew like that as we descended, engine off, air rushing by, and soon we were below the clouds. 

 

As we approached the air space of the runway we circled and positioned to the "8" end of the runway.  Nearing land, Armin restarted the engine.  He explained that with the rougher air it is safer to have the engine running, in case we had to abort the landing.  Otherwise he would have been able to land engines off.  Of course aborting landing was unnecessary, and while the land was coming near much too quickly for my taste, at the last minute Armin adjusted the wind just right and we touched down smoother than I've ever experienced in past commercial jet landings.  

In moments we were back at the hangar, dismounting.  The fun was over now.  But flying is definitely now stuck in my blood.  For the next few hours it was all I could think about.  I am now dreaming of the next time I can do it, and perhaps one day have a glider of my own.