No engine, only the soft rush of trade wind over the wings as you rise on the same air the tropicbirds ride. For 20, 30, or 60 minutes from Dillingham Airfield, you're not just experiencing Hawaii. You're part of it.
Lele · 20 minutes in the air
to fly, to leap
Your first taste of flight the way the birds know it. The field falls away, the world goes quiet, and the reef below glows in shades of jade and turquoise. Twenty minutes is long enough to feel the wind lift you and to hear nothing but its whisper over the wings, and you'll land wanting more. If your schedule has room, the 30 lets you stay up there longer.
Most Popular
Huakaʻi · 30 minutes in the air
a journey
Ten more minutes changes everything. This is when you stop looking at Hawaii and start belonging to it. Ride the rising air along the Waiʻanae ridge, where the lift lives, and let the camera rest in your lap. The mountains, the ocean, and the slow circling of the seabirds become your whole world. It's the flight we recommend most.
Kaʻapuni · 60 minutes in the air
to go all the way around
A full hour on the wind, with no hurry and no engine, just you and the sky. Follow the ridge west until the island runs out at Kaʻena Point, where the land meets the deep blue Pacific. Hang there a while over water that turns from turquoise to sapphire, then come home slowly, the way the albatross does. This is soaring at its most unhurried.
Hanohano · 60 minutes in the air
glorious, distinguished
A different aircraft, not a longer flight. The Stemme climbs out under its own power, then shuts the engine down and folds the propeller away, and from there it soars like anything else on the ridge. One seat, beside the pilot instead of behind, with glass on both sides of you.
Proposals at golden hour, anniversaries, group charters, or something we have not thought of yet. Tell us what you have in mind and we will tell you honestly whether we can fly it.
You sit under a canopy of clear glass with the whole sky around you, and your pilot handles everything. Moments after launch you're floating above the North Shore coast, with turquoise reef below and emerald mountains beside you.
Then comes the silence. With no engine there's no roar and no vibration, only the soft hush of wind over the wings as you ride the same trade winds as the seabirds. All you have to do is breathe, look out, and let Hawaii take your breath away.
The trades come across the channel and flow into the Waiʻanae range, and the range turns all that moving air into lift on more than 330 days a year. Once we are soaring, the glider burns no fuel at all; we climb on the very air the tropicbirds have been riding over this ridge far longer than we have.
You keep gliding, peacefully. A glider doesn't need wind to fly. Its long, graceful wings make their own lift as it moves through the air, which lets it descend slowly and smoothly, just as it does at the end of every flight. Rising air simply lets us stay up longer, and your pilot always keeps the runway within easy reach.
A glider is built to fly without one. With no engine there's no engine to lose, and every landing is a gentle glide back to earth. Your pilot does exactly that on every flight, which is why gliders are trusted to train pilots all over the world.
Softly. Your pilot lines up with the runway and settles you down as gently as a bird coming to rest. Landing is the most practiced moment of every flight.
This is a scenic flight, not a thrill ride, so there are no loops, drops, or rolls. Turns are slow and graceful, and most guests tell us it was calmer than a drive along the coast. Many say it was the most peaceful moment of their whole trip.
Rarely. There is no engine vibration and no propeller wash, so it is smoother than a small plane and a great deal smoother than a boat. If you do start to feel off, say something early and your pilot will level the wings or head back to the field.
Private flights, FAA-certificated pilots, and the experience of a lifetime. Reschedule free up to 48 hours out. Pick a date and you can be booked in about two minutes.
