With his partner, Sam, Mr. Bill has been operating glider rides at Dillingham Field for over 40 years.  Click here to hear from Bill in his own words

Kim

Sales Manager,
Customer Relations

Bill

Bill was born and raised on the Island of Oahu.  He is retired Fire Captain and continues to fly airplanes and gliders after his retirement.  He is an FAA certified mechanic and flight instructor pilot for gliders, single engine and multiengine aircraft.  Bill first started flying in 1963 and obtained his glider rating in 1988 with the Hawaii Wing Civil Air Patrol to assist with the CAP Glider Cadet Program.  At the present time he is the CAP Glider Program Manager where he and other volunteers provide glider introductory flight training to Hawaii CAP cadet members.   He is also one of our tow plane pilots and conducts initial tow pilot training for Honolulu Soaring Company for tail dragger and glider towing endorsements.

Bill says that he will continue to fly gliders and airplanes to help promote general aviation flying in Hawaii and for the beauty and freedom that flying provides.  
 

Dwight





 

Dwight  was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the High School of Performing Arts. He then attended the City University of New York where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Looking towards traveling the world, he joined the Navy as a  Sonar Technician holding a top secret clearance. After going through two six-month Western Pacific Deployments, he was given the opportunity to attend the Law Enforcement School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He was stationed at Barbers Point Naval Air Station as a law enforcement officer. In September 1995, he joined the Department of Defense Police in Hawaii. He took on roles of patrol supervisor and desk sergeant. He even became the Sergeant-in-Charge of the DA Police Bike Unit which became successful in reducing the crime statistics in military housing in Hawaii.

Dwight is currently assigned as a Sergeant/Police Instructor with the Directorate of Emergency Services.  He has an appetite to learn new things.

Dwight as been in love with flying since he was a kid living in New York. He holds various licenses, commercial gliders, multi-engine, instrument, etc. He has been flying for over twenty years and has over 8,000 hours. And we frequently hear him say  "I love flying aerobatics".  Besides being a great pilot, he has the ability to entertain both fellow pilots and passengers. He strongly believes that if you’ve walked away from a flight with a BIG SMILE, he has truly touched your  soul.
 

Jerry

Jim

Jim,  Born & Raised in Spokane Washington
Moved to Hawaii August 21st 1976
Ratings: Commercial Glider, Private Single Engine Land with over 4000 hours
flight time.

"I always had wanted to learn how to fly but could never afford it.  As soon
as I could afford it, I did it.  I learned to fly gliders first in 1987 earning a private license and then a commercial license." 

"Flying glider rides on weekends afforded me the extra cash for a single engine rating which I got in 1993 at the Hickam (AFB Hawaii) Aero Club. I love to fly
gliders and I love the camaraderie with the other pilots at Dillingham airfield.  What a great bunch of people! And what a great part of the island to hang out on weekends, I just love it!!"

John

John came to Hawaii in 1949 to play football under the tutelage of Coach Tommy Kaulukukui. John  lived in Hilo, attended UH Hilo and later graduated from UH Manoa having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.  John also earned his professional teaching certificate while working towards a  Masters Degree in Far Eastern Studies.

John served in the Army in Korea, and subsequently went to work for Hawaiian Airlines, where he flew as an airline pilot for 30 years.  After retiring from Hawaiian, he formed Hawaii Aviation Contract Services.  His company provides pilots to Japan Airline and Japan Air Charter, JAL’s subsidiary.

John is also an aviation attorney and continues to practice law in Hawaii.

John still loves to fly, and flies float planes in Alaska as well as gliders on Oahu.

More Photos and Background for John

Joe

 

Nick
 

Nick is a native of Southern California, where he spent his youth racing motorcycles and flying hang gliders. He then went on to live and work in both Germany and Japan, and he speaks both languages fluently. A lifelong interest in aviation led him to Honolulu Soaring, where he has been flying gliders for the past two years. He specializes in scenic and aerobatic rides in the language of your choice!
 

Val

 

Tyler

Tyler Westhoff
Age - 23
Born in Kansas.  Raised in Arizona.  
Moved to Hawaii – March of 2005
Ratings – Commercial airplane and glider pilot; instructor for gliders
Reasons for flying – the view 

Since I was toddler I always found the way to get the best possible view, and, to the dismay of my mother, that usually meant climbing the highest thing I could find.  It started with roof tops, then I discovered radio towers, and after that, mountain tops.  But it wasn’t until I was being shuttled in a Cessna 185 on skis for a mountaineering trip on Denali that I realized what I had been missing with aviation.  An airplane gives you the ultimate vantage point.  I got my private airplane license in Alaska that same summer.  After moving to Hawaii to fly gliders, I became fascinated with aerobatics.  Aerobatics adds a whole new dimension to the way we see.  What other way can you look UP at the ocean.  The ultimate, of course, is to look up and see the dark body of a humpback whale submerged in the deep blue of the pacific above you.   That’s a sight I think everyone should see.