[tevake]

Bryan, you have a great opportunity for soaring right there on Oahu at Dillingham field in Mokuleia. Ive gone up there a couple of times. And it's a beautiful place to fly.

They tow about half way to the ridge just Mauka of the field , the up drafts on the mountain face are solid with trades blowing up the mountains. Its easy to climb after release from the tow plane. Once reaching the top of the ridge the view over to the west side is spectacular. Then there is the chance to do some aerobatic flying and to soar out over the water while making your way back down to the landing field. The colorful scenery of the verdant land and the reefs is amazing from the air.

The flying is beautiful, quiet, effortless, and yet thrilling with relatively close proximity to the mountain face, dancing around the clouds that form on the ridge. The rush of wind around the canopy while diving for speed to do exciting maneuvers while working your way back down to the landing field.

Its one of those places where the conditions are so good that its possible to fly there till you need to land to have a pee, or are getting hungry.

I haven't had the experence of doing thermal soaring. It's neat reading of the cross country flying where finding the next updraft and milking it for the best altitude possible is the goal. Looking for the right cloud formations or soaring birds circling in up going air. I would love to try that .

Cheers Richard