Trike Flying the North Shore of Oahu
ParadiseAirHawaii.com
Reviewer: Pilot
The combination of the beautiful North Shore of Oahu and open cockpit flying is just too much to pass up. Many of the landscape and ocean views can only be seen from the air. By limiting your visit to the Kam Highway tour you will miss the best this area has to offer. Touring this wonderful area with a birds eye view will open up beaches, mountains, valleys, waterfalls, plantations, sea life, secluded coastline, and more. We enjoyed whale watching from a safe vantage point that gave us a perfect view of these great creatures. We were able to view adult whales frolicking and feeding at the surface, a mother and pup interacting, and the clear deep blue ocean allowed us to watch them swimming in deep water. The aircraft themselves are registered Light Sport Aircraft. These are built by AirBorne, an Australian company specializing in sport aircraft. Paradise Air is owned and operated by a husband and wife team Tom and Denise Sanders. They have combined both their love of flying with years of aviation experience to create a flying business that is first class. I found their approach to the flying business refreshing. This is not a shoestring operation. Tom and Denise have put together an operation that addresses the whole experience. One of the best features is Tom's professional cinematography experience. Be sure to purchase their photos and video. They are professionally done and can be revisited for the best tour of the North Shore you will ever get. Just one good picture of your experience is worth the price and you are sure to get many great shots. Flying this type of open aircraft is the best that flying has to offer. Instead of an enclosed cockpit that isolates you from the environment you will feel the temperature changes as you ascend. You can smell of the pineapples as you fly over the Dole plantation. And the 360 degree view is unmatched. This is an experience you will enjoy!

My wife and I both did the 30 minute flight with Paradise Air and the only regret is that we didn't choose a longer flight. This was an amazing experience and something that I would recommend for anyone. I can't wait to try it again.

We had to cancel our original flight due to heavy rain but Tom and Denise went out of their way to help us reschedule for the following day. We stayed in Waikik and it is about an hour drive to get there but it was definitely worth the trip.

They were very friendly and gave us great tips on things to do and places to go on the north shore.

Highly recommended!

If you're considering doing this, stop considering it. JUST DO IT, IT'S AWESOME!

I'm a very adventurous person and have done many things like skydiving, helicopter flying, BASE jumping, SCUBA diving, shark diving and many others. But one thing I had never done was hang gliding.

This first experience of powered hang gliding with Tom & Denise Sanders at Paradise Air will definitely not be my last. I've got an itch now to do it more. I wasn't just a passenger along for a ride, I got a full-blown introduction to flying the hang glider and was given the opportunity to control the wing from my seat. It was another great learning experience for me.

While my other adventures like skydiving and BASE jumping may have prepared me for understanding HOW the hang glider would handle, it was also simple enough for my girlfriend to learn. Tom & Denise explained everything so well and made us both feel so comfortable with flying and soaring with the birds, so to speak.

What an amazing experience!! I have already told so many of my family and friends that they HAVE to go take an introductory flight lesson on these powered hang gliders at Paradise Air.

My fiance and I were staying in Haleiwa (a wonderful little town on the North shore of Oahu...I wish we could have spent more time there). We made our reservation with Paradise Air for our Sunday morning flight and we arrived at the hanger around 8:00. Tom & Denise Sanders were there awaiting our arrival and we got everything set up to go. I flew with Tom and my fiance flew with Denise. I loved that Tom & I could talk to each other during the entire flight with our headphones and microphones. He explained all of the pre-flight checks that he did and gladly answered any questions I had. We rolled the video camera and we were off.

It was great to learn all about powered hang gliding and get to experience flying it myself! Tom let me take the handles from the backseat and I learned that it wasn't as scary as I had once thought. In fact, I would recommend this to absolutely anyone, even those who are a bit timid. I felt completely safe and secure with a shoulder harness and belt and I was also really comfortable. I was wondering if it was going to get cold but Denise fitted me for a flight suit before take-off and I was all cozy at 2,000 feet.

A total bonus to this flight lesson was being surrounded by awesome sights that you may not get to see anywhere else. During the flight, we saw a whale (the first sighting of the season, Tom & Denise said), a sea turtle swimming on the surface, a waterfall that you can't get to by ground (a rock slide covers the road that once got you there), and the Triple Crown Surfing Competition.

We went home with video of our flight as well as many still shots. We got the still pictures developed in Haleiwa that day.

All in all, it was my favorite experience of our trip to Oahu. Tom & Denise are absolutely fabulous people who obviously love what they do and love sharing their knowledge with others. They were awesome teachers.

GO DO IT!!