Maui- Maui Aviators

[rene86mx]

Disclaimer: I'm not a pilot but I love flying so I take every opportunity I have to book a discovery flight whenever I'm travelling to the US. My wife (daughter of a pilot) hates flying and even more the idea of me flying.

When we were looking for potential vacation destinations I saw that Maui Aviators had a tour of the islands very similar to a discovery flight. It took my wife a couple of months to agree, after watching a couple of Youtube videos and some pictures I found in POA of somebody that did the same tour a couple of years ago.

Flash forward to last week. I woke up early and monitored Aeroweather for all of the surrounding airports. All of them were VFR, for me it was a GO.

When we got to the airport it was the classic setting of a small hometown airport with hangars and very friendly people. Yoo wouldn't think it's a Class C with a lot of helicopter operations, GVs and F900 on the tarmac.

We met our CFI and after discussing a little of my next to non-existent experience (2.3 hours of discovery flights) we checked the sectional where we discussed our route for the next 1.5 hours. We'd be departing PHOG runway 2, then heading 300 until Nakalele point and cross the channel to Molokai, then from Molokai we'll do the midfield transition over PHMK to Lanai where we'd see the shipwrecks before heading back to Molokini crater and PHOG. Needless to say I had done this route about 5 times in FSX so I knew what to expect.

I was very excited because my wife was coming with me and we were on vacations. I was so excited that I forgot to remove the cover from my GoPro lens. My wife thinks it was the most hilarious moment when she heard my reaction on the intercom. I have about 60 minutes of black screen with the great commentaries from the sights by our CFI and 30 minutes of the route to Maui/Molokini

It was a great way of beginning holidays. The service from Maui Aviators was great. My wife couldn't believe I did most of the flying+taxiing so now I have permission to pursue my PPL training. She loved even more the greaser that our CFI did to finish the flight.

I'd let the pictures do the rest of the explanation

 

[Van Johnston]

Yes, did the same thing in June, and have similar pictures. Was Eric the CFI? Was reading Michener's Hawaii at the same time, so when he said "there's the leper colony" it really brought the book to life. He also pointed out Lindberg's grave from the air, and the next day we drove the road to Hana and visited in person.

 

[James331]

Wow

 

[arnoha]

I've got three flights in my logbook with Maui Aviators. I have some pictures that look like that...but yours are much better! My instructor was Eric Gilbert for two of the flights, then I was checked-out for the third flight without instruction.

Eric was a good CFI and his instruction helped me nail down handling crazy crosswinds and turbulence that comes with the tradewinds and Maui. Having the airport right between the two volcanoes results in a wild ride when the winds are blowing. And they were blowing! 35G42 and 30 degrees off the main runway.

I flew all their aircraft at the time. They had a little yellow 172 that was the sketchiest airplane I've every flown. Looks like that plane in gone now. The SPs weren't treated that well, either. They were outside, no sunshades. The avionics took the brunt of that...the GPS and radios were broken or didn't work well. There was definite corrosion on the outside on all the aircraft. Salt air, I guess.

The other piece that was unfortunate with Maui Aviators that seems to have been fixed now was the pricing. It was (and still is, currently at $208/hour) the most ridiculously expensive steam-gauge 172SP I've ever flown. It's Maui, I get that. But the full price was not advertised. It was listed at a somewhat high $165/hour + fuel surcharge. OK, I've dealt with fuel surcharges before, and they often add 5-10% to the bill. Yeah, not here. $44/hour fuel obscene surcharge. Charge what you want, but be up front with it!

Looks like the full price is now listed, which is good. And a shinier website. I wonder if they have new management?

https://arnoha.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Maui/n-rJcQkb/

 

[SCCutler]

Rene, from where are you visiting?

 

[James331]

I've got three flights in my logbook with Maui Aviators. I have some pictures that look like that...but yours are much better! My instructor was Eric Gilbert for two of the flights, then I was checked-out for the third flight without instruction.

Eric was a good CFI and his instruction helped me nail down handling crazy crosswinds and turbulence that comes with the tradewinds and Maui. Having the airport right between the two volcanoes results in a wild ride when the winds are blowing. And they were blowing! 35G42 and 30 degrees off the main runway.

I flew all their aircraft at the time. They had a little yellow 172 that was the sketchiest airplane I've every flown. Looks like that plane in gone now. The SPs weren't treated that well, either. They were outside, no sunshades. The avionics took the brunt of that...the GPS and radios were broken or didn't work well. There was definite corrosion on the outside on all the aircraft. Salt air, I guess.

The other piece that was unfortunate with Maui Aviators that seems to have been fixed now was the pricing. It was (and still is, currently at $208/hour) the most ridiculously expensive steam-gauge 172SP I've ever flown. It's Maui, I get that. But the full price was not advertised. It was listed at a somewhat high $165/hour + fuel surcharge. OK, I've dealt with fuel surcharges before, and they often add 5-10% to the bill. Yeah, not here. $44/hour fuel obscene surcharge. Charge what you want, but be up front with it!

Looks like the full price is now listed, which is good. And a shinier website. I wonder if they have new management?

https://arnoha.smugmug.com/Airplanes/Maui/n-rJcQkb/

You know fuel gets to HI?


With the price of fuel, parts, real estate/hangars what did you expect?

Asking for a nice hangar kept rental in HI is one thing, asking for a hangar kept plane and a low price, well yeah, I'd also like a smoking hot low maintaince chick, but we all know you're going to have to make sacrifices on one side or another


But I do agree with surcharges, just post the full boat hourly price, never liked the hidden fee game ether.

 

[arnoha]

You know fuel gets to HI?


With the price of fuel, parts, real estate/hangars what did you expect?

Asking for a nice hangar kept rental in HI is one thing, asking for a hangar kept plane and a low price, well yeah, I'd also like a smoking hot low maintaince chick, but we all know you're going to have to make sacrifices on one side or another


But I do agree with surcharges, just post the full boat hourly price, never liked the hidden fee game ether.

Oh, I get the high price. I'm not complaining about the price. One charges what the market will bear and I paid it. They're the only game on Maui and the flights were beyond worth it. Just look at the pics!

And, no, I don't expect a hangar for a rental. But throwing sunshades in the windshield after a flight? I don't get why you wouldn't do that! Save the leather. Save the avionics. Especially in HI. The state of the aircraft Mx almost made me skip on this outfit (not the price, which merely annoyed me). I think I rationalized that there was plenty of places to land out in HI and warm water. I do know that now that I've had the experience, I probably won't use them again.

Then again, it looks like the yellow 172 is gone. The prices are transparent (probably). Maybe they've turned a new leaf? If so, I'd reconsider.

 

[Van Johnston]

They are not the only game in town. There's a place next door that does the same thing in Cirri; one of their pilots has posted on here and that's what gave me the idea to try and do my BFR. I did the research and found Maui Aviators. I did not get hit with a fuel surcharge. I did get hit with headphone rental charge. They also use the restaurant style credit card credit card tape with space for a tip.

 

[rene86mx]

Was Eric the CFI?

Yes, it was Eric

The other piece that was unfortunate with Maui Aviators that seems to have been fixed now was the pricing. It was (and still is, currently at $208/hour) the most ridiculously expensive steam-gauge 172SP I've ever flown. It's Maui, I get that. But the full price was not advertised. It was listed at a somewhat high $165/hour + fuel surcharge. OK, I've dealt with fuel surcharges before, and they often add 5-10% to the bill. Yeah, not here. $44/hour fuel obscene surcharge. Charge what you want, but be up front with it!

I flew 1.4 Hobbs and CFI 1.5 CFI time. No fuel surcharge added. So for my wife and me around $400. It was a good deal considering the helicopter tours and that I got to fly

Rene, from where are you visiting?

I'm from Mexico but travel regularly to the Bay Area and South Padre Island

They are not the only game in town. There's a place next door that does the same thing in Cirri; one of their pilots has posted on here and that's what gave me the idea to try and do my BFR. I did the research and found Maui Aviators. I did not get hit with a fuel surcharge. I did get hit with headphone rental charge. They also use the restaurant style credit card credit card tape with space for a tip.

Yes, but they charge around $700 and from what I could see from some YouTube videos the experience was not as hands on as what I was expecting and eventually experienced

 

[arnoha]

They are not the only game in town. There's a place next door that does the same thing in Cirri; one of their pilots has posted on here and that's what gave me the idea to try and do my BFR. I did the research and found Maui Aviators. I did not get hit with a fuel surcharge. I did get hit with headphone rental charge. They also use the restaurant style credit card credit card tape with space for a tip.

The Cirrus wasn't available when I went. Good to see some more options. I remember the credit card slip: it had room for tip then, too.

Glad to hear the fuel surcharge is gone. Straight pricing is a much better way to do business.