Hawaii's first aeronautical event was on 2 March 1889, when Emil L. Melville hung from a trapeze in a balloon. Hawaii's first aircraft flight was on 31 December 1910 by a Curtiss Biplane.

Events

1913 1st Lt. Harold Geiger operates a

Curtiss Model E The Curtiss Model E was an early aircraft developed by Glenn Curtiss in the United States in 1911. Design Essentially a refined and enlarged version of the later "headless" Model D, variants of the Model E made important steps in pioneering ...

, and a Curtiss SC out of

Fort Kamehameha Fort Kamehameha was a United States Army military base that was the site of several coastal artillery batteries to defend Pearl Harbor starting in 1907 in Honolulu, Hawaii. History The eastern areas of the fort were in the district called Moanalua ...

. * 1925 John Rodgers leads a non-stop flight attempt from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to Hawaii in a Naval Aircraft Factory PN. * 1927 January - Lewis Hawaiian Tours starts flights between islands in a five-seat Ryan modified from a swept-wing standard. * 1927 The Dole Air Derby challenged aviators to fly from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

to Honolulu. Only two aircraft completed the trip out of a field of eight. * 1931 July 26, Lieut John C. Crain establishes a world glider endurance record of 16 hrs 38 minutes aided by searchlights, landing at Kanehoe Bay. * 1941 On 7 December, the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

initiated America's declaration of war with Japan. * 1949 January - Bill Odom flies a

Beechcraft Bonanza The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. The six-seater, single-engined aircraft is still being produced by Beechcraft and has been in continuous prod ...

nonstop from Waikiki to the Continental U.S. In March the same plane is flown 5273 miles from Waikiki to Teterboro, New Jersey. * 1950 On 3 January Pan American Airways completes the first commercial non-stop flight from Tokyo to Honolulu.

Aircraft manufacturers

Aerospace

The Hawaiian Islands are home to scientific research into

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

technology. Hawai'i is home to some of the world's largest

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

s, and the observatory located near the summit of

Mauna Kea Mauna Kea ( or ; ; abbreviation for ''Mauna a Wākea''); is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii and second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak is ...

, the Big Island. The composition of the volcanic sand on the mountains of Hawaii has nearly the same chemical composition as the Moon. This allows for lunar missions to be tested on Earth first, before leaving the atmosphere. Hawaii is also home to U.S. astronaut

Ellison Onizuka was an American astronaut, engineer, and USAF test pilot from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'', on which he wa ...

, and the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center. At the

ʻImiloa Astronomy Center ʻImiloa Astronomy Center is an astronomy and culture education center located in Hilo, Hawaii. Conceived by founding Director George Jacob in 2001, it features exhibits and shows dealing with Hawaiian culture and history, astronomy (particularl ...

is a museum dedicated to exploring and developing the link between Polynesian explorers and space exploration. NASA has announced a lunar research park in Hilo. The University of Hawaii has provided volunteers for these missions in the past through PISCES. The University of Hawaii has held student design competitions for models for space colonization.

Airports

* Honolulu International Airport serves over 9 million passengers a year. * List of airports in Hawaii

Commercial service

Hawaiian Airlines is the largest locally operated airline. The airline started service on 6 October 1929 as Inter-Island Airways with a

Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker The Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker was a six-seat utility aircraft, built primarily in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a development of the Bellanca CH-200, fitted with a more powerful engine and, like the CH-200, soon became renowne ...

Go! Mokulele go! Mokulele was an American business marketing inter-island flights within the state of Hawaii. The airline was a joint venture between Mesa Airlines and Mokulele Flight Services formed in October 2009 when the companies merged their competing ...

which is a joint venture between

Mesa Airlines Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Gr ...

and

Republic Airways Holdings Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. is an American airline holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that owns Republic Airways, an American regional airline operating in the United States, and LIFT Academy, the only flight training acade ...

also provides inter-island service.

Organizations

The General Aviation Council of Hawaii is headquartered in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

Government and military

All flight operations in Hawaii are conducted within

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

oversight. The

Hawaii Air National Guard The Hawaii Air National Guard (HI ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Hawaii, United States of America. It is, along with the Hawaii Army National Guard, an element of the Hawaii National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the ...

was activated in 1946. The Honolulu Police Department started air operations in 1970. It currently operates two MD520 NOTAR helicopters.

Museums

Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (formerly the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor) is a non-profit founded in 1999 to develop an aviation museum in Hawaii. Part of Senator Daniel Inouye's vision for a rebirth of Ford Island, the museum hosts a var ...

Museum on

Ford Island Ford Island ( haw, Poka Ailana) is an islet in the center of Pearl Harbor, Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It has been known as Rabbit Island, Marín's Island, and Little Goats Island, and its native Hawaiian name is ''Mokuumeume''. The isl ...

Gallery

File:Aerial view of Pearl Harbor on 1 June 1986 (6422248).jpg, Pearl Harbor

References

Article on NASA in HiloArticle on Hawaiian space-tourism
*https://web.archive.org/web/20120922203128/http://aerospacehawaii.info/?page_id=68 Aerospace Hawaii *http://www.space-travel.com/reports/NASA_and_Hawaii_Partner_for_Space_Exploration_999.html Space Travel article on Hawaii *http://aerospace.wcc.hawaii.edu/ Center for Aerospace, Hawaii *http://www.imiloahawaii.org/ Imiloa Tourist Attraction and Museum *http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2008/10/15/lunar_robot_Mauna_Kea_Hawaii Robots on Mauna Kea {{United States topic, prefix= Aviation in Transportation in Hawaii