Bellows

Waimanalo Military Reservation was created in 1917 by Presidential Executive Order, and later renamed to Bellows Field in 1933 (named after Lieutenant Franklin Barney Bellows, a war hero who was killed in action during World War I while on a reconnaissance flight near St. Mihiel, France, on September 13, 1918.)

The land was leased from Waimanalo Sugar Plantation. It was used as the bivouac area and a target practice area by the Coastal Artillery, which strung a line of 90-mm guns along the beach.  During the 1930s, Bellows was used as a bombing and gunnery range by aircraft from Luke (Ford Island,) Wheeler and Hickam Fields.

Back then, the field was nothing but overgrowth of sugar cane and guava. The only clearings were for training areas and tents where the men slept.  It was a training area for the infantry, coast artillery and Air Corps. There was a wooden traffic control tower and a single asphalt runway, 983-feet long and 75-feet wide.

Bellows Field was used for training both air and ground forces. During the mid-1930s the Air Corps chiefly used this area for a strafing and bombing practice site.  Those operations extended into 1938, when the total Air Corps personnel on duty only consisted of five to ten men supplied from Wheeler Field.

Bellows was a sub-post of Wheeler Field until July 22, 1941 when it became a separate permanent military post under the jurisdiction of the Commanding General, Hawaiian Department. Overnight, an accelerated construction program began and Bellows began to grow. Two-story wooden barracks and a new and larger runway started filling the landscape.

Bellows was among those installations attacked by the Japanese during the Pearl Harbor attack. The 44th Pursuit Squadron had 12 P-40's located at Bellows on December 7th, 1941. Unfortunately the planes had been flown the day before the attack and the aircraft guns had been removed for cleaning.  (Trojan)

Two military members were killed (Lt. Hans Christenson and Lt. George Whiteman) and six wounded at Bellows.  They included three pilots of the 44th Pursuit Squadron who were at Bellows for gunnery training and attempted to take off in their P-40s.  One of the pilots had to swim to shore when his badly damaged aircraft crashed into the ocean.

Also swimming ashore the next day was the commander of a Japanese two-man midget submarine which grounded on the reef off of Bellows.  Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, captured by Cpt. David Akui and Lt. Paul S. Plybon, was the first US prisoner of war taken in WW II.  His companion, Petty Officer Second Class Kiyoshi Inagaki, died and his remains later washed up on the shore.  (hawaii-gov)

With the outbreak of war, Bellows was transformed almost overnight into an important facility where aircraft were prepared for their duty in the Pacific Theater.  Hundreds of men and aircraft flowed through Bellows requiring more runways and facilities.

Five runways, the longest 6,290-feet, were in two different airfields, connected by a taxiway - they were identified as “Bellows Field (Army)” to the south and “Bellows Field Bombing Range (Emergency)” to the north.

Later (1955,) the north Bellows airfield was “closed” and the south field was labeled simply as “Bellows,” without any kind of military designation. The field was also described as “Not attended.”

The south Bellows airfield may have been used for some time during the 1950s as a civilian airfield of some type.  The runways at Bellows were eventually closed in 1958 and the base was used for other purposes.

In 1960, the U.S. Army built two Nike-Hercules anti-aircraft missile sites at Bellows, which were operated full-time by the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard for the aerial defense of Hawaii until inactivated in 1970.  The communications transmitter facility replaced the Kipapa area transmitter and receiver sites.

Later, it was operated and maintained by members of the 15th Communications Squadron.  Its transmitters were the principal ground-to-air link with aircraft (particularly military aircraft) flying to and from Hawaiʻi; and they provided communications for Presidential flights and others carrying high-level government officials.  (The facility was decommissioned in the 1980s or 1990s.)

This communications network was one of the reasons the runways at Bellows went out of use; an antenna was located right in one of the runways. In addition, a large communication building was constructed right in the middle of the crossed runways.

The Bellows property was renamed Bellows Air Force Station (AFS) in 1968.  In 1970 the US Air Force offered part of Bellows to the State of Hawaiʻi for use as a general aviation airport, but opposition by the nearby Waimanalo community was so strong that the state had to decline.

In 1999, the Marine Corps acquired about 1,050-acres for the Marine Corps Training Area Bellows (MCTAB;) it’s now part of Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi, headquartered in Kāneʻohe Bay. MCTAB adds significant training capabilities and maneuver space for non-live fire military training activities.

The Marines and other services use the training areas to conduct amphibious, helicopter and motorized exercises in conjunction with troop land maneuver training. It is currently the only place in Hawaiʻi where amphibious landings can transition directly into maneuver training areas for realistic military training.

The Air Force's property at Bellows is now limited to the recreational facilities.   The Bellows Recreation Center is composed of 102 beach cottages, a small exchange & a beach club. Bellows is still depicted as an abandoned airfield on recent Sectional Charts.

The facility also serves as all-service beach-front recreational area for active-duty and retired military personnel, civilian employees of the Department of Defense, dependents and guests.

On most weekends and holidays, the Marines continue a practice started by the Air Force to open the Bellows Beach training area to the general public, in cooperation with the City and County of Honolulu.  (Lots of information here from hawaii-gov and Trojan.)

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Heʻeia

The nine ahupuaʻa of Kāneʻohe Bay, beginning at the boundary between Koʻolauloa and Koʻolaupoko Districts (west) and moving eastward, are Kualoa, Hakipuʻu, Waikāne, Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāneʻohe.

The ahupuaʻa of Heʻeia and Kāneʻohe also included portions of Mōkapu Peninsula (Heʻeia runs from the mountains to the sea, but also crosses over a portion of the water in Kāneʻohe Bay and includes a portion of a Mōkapu peninsula across the Bay.)  Heʻeia also includes Moku-o-Loʻe (Coconut Island,) Kahaluʻu includes Kapapa Island and Kualoa includes Mokoliʻi.

The name of the land of Heʻeia is traditionally associated with Heʻeia, the handsome foster son of the goddess Haumea and grandson of the demigod ʻOlopana, who was an uncle of Kamapuaʻa.

Heʻeia was named in commemoration of a tsunami-type wave that washed Haumea and others into the sea - a great tidal wave that “washed (he‘e ‘ia) … out to sea and back” (Lit., surfed, or washed (out to sea,) or swept away.)

They swam until they were exhausted and were finally washed ashore at Kapapa Island in Kāneʻohe Bay. It was the handsome Heʻeia who fell in love with Kaohelo, a younger sister of Pele and Hiʻiaka, whom he met in Koʻolau, Oʻahu.  (Devaney)

In ancient Hawai‘i, fishponds were an integral part of the ahupua‘a food source.  Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters to raise fish for their communities and families.  Loko iʻa (fishpond) were used for fattening and storing of fish for food and also as a source for kapu (forbidden) fish.  Walled, brackish-water fishponds were usually constructed on the reef along the shore and one or more mākāhā (sluice gate.)

Heʻeia Fishpond’s wall was one of the longest, extending nearly a mile.  As a large pond, it is subject to considerable evaporation, increasing salinity in the pond; as such, fresh water is added.  Heʻeia is somewhat unique in that it has mākāhā gates on the mauka wall to control the flow of fresh water.

Kalo (taro) was a main staple in the diet of nearly all Hawaiians prior to European contact and was extensively cultivated.  As early as 1789, Portlock described this area:
“… the bay all around has a very beautiful appearance, the low land and valleys being in high state of cultivation, and crowded with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, etc. interspersed with a great number of coconut trees ….”

The region had a considerable amount of land cultivated in taro up through the early-1800s.  “Southeastward along the windward coast, beginning with Waikāne and continuing through Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāne’ohe, were broad valley bottoms and flatlands between the mountains and the sea which, taken all together, represent the most extensive wet-taro area on Oʻahu.” (Handy, Devaney)

The rains that sweep through here have been memorialized in poetry and song.  A traditional mele honoring Kaumuali‘i suggests “the sound of heavy rain drops on dry leaves, or dry thatching of the pandanus leaf, … of the rain accompanying the koʻolau wind, which calms the troubled waters”.  This “heavy-sounding rain” of the Koʻolau has been transformed into a poetical saying, “Ka ua kani koʻo o Heʻeia, The rain of Heʻeia that sounds like the tapping of walking canes”.  (Fornander)

During the early historic times, many of the ruling chiefs favored this area as their place of residence. Kahahana the ruler of Oʻahu sometimes resided there. Kahekili after defeating Kahahana lived in Kailua, Kāneʻohe and Heʻeia.

The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded by the Catholic mission at Ahuimanu, Heʻeia in 1846.  “Outside the city, at Ahuimanu, Maigret has now a country retreat that he refers to by the Hawaiian word māla.  It is a combination garden, orchard and kitchen garden. … The venerable bishop has built his own vineyard and planted his own orchard … His retreat in the mountain, his “garden in the air” as he terms it, is a pleasant and profitable sight … When the pressure of events allows it, Maigret takes refuge there.” (Charlot)

One of its students, Damien (born as Jozef de Veuster,) arrived in Hawaiʻi on March 9, 1864, at the time a 24-year-old choirboy.  Determined to become a priest, he had the remainder of the schooling at the College of Ahuimanu.  Bishop Maigret ordained Father Damien at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in 1864 and later assigned him to Molokaʻi.  In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The earliest of the modern large commercial agricultural ventures started with the cultivation of sugar cane in Kualoa in the 1860s. By 1880, three more sugar companies had emerged in Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāne’ohe. Heʻeia Sugar Company (also called Heʻeia Agricultural Co. Ltd) operated from 1878 to 1903.

In 1880, the region reported 7,000-acres available for cultivation; in 1883 a railroad was installed at Heʻeia, and by the summer of that year it was noted that the railroad had allowed a much greater amount of land to be harvested, even allowing cane from Kāneʻohe to be ground at Heʻeia; however, the commercial cultivation of sugar cane was short-lived.  (Devaney)

Rice cultivation did not occur in earnest until the decline of sugar, and in 1880 the first Chinese rice company started in the nearby Waineʻe area. Abandoned systems of loʻi kalo were modified into rice paddies. The Kāneʻohe Rice Mill was built around 1892-1893 in nearby Waikalua.

Another commercial crop, pineapple, was also grown here, starting around 1910.  By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land here and built the first large-scale cannery with an annual capacity of 250,000-cans at nearby Kahaluʻu; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

The US military first established a presence on the Mōkapu peninsula in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order establishing Fort Kuwaʻaohe Military Reservation (the western portion of Mōkapu is within the Heʻeia ahupuaʻa.)

Today, Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi continues to serve as a fully functional operational and training base for US Marine Corps forces. The Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) here operates a 7,800-foot runway (on the ahupuaʻa of Heʻeia) that can accommodate both fixed wing and rotor-driven aircraft.

With World War II underway, the Navy recognized the need to be able to communicate across the Pacific.  In 1942, a group of radio experts determined a superpower radio station with across-the-Pacific range might be built provided that the antenna could be raised high enough above the ground.

The solution was to find a topographic feature that would act like the "unbuildable" tall tower.  Using technology developed pre-World War I, they strategically positioned four Alexanderson Alternators; one was located in Haiku Valley in Heʻeia.  Haiku Valley with its horseshoe shape and sheer side-walls filled the prescription perfectly.

To build it, mountain climbers pounded spikes into the vertical cliff, then added wooden stairs up the mountain.  A lift to haul up materials was added and they strung cables across the valley.  The Alexanderson Alternator radio system, transmitting Morse code across the Pacific, was operational in 3-months.  A reminder of that facility is the Haiku Ladder, Haiku Stairs – the Stairway to Heaven (a 3,922-step ladder/stairway ascending the summit of the Koʻolau mountain range.)

Today, Windward Mall, portions of Windward Community College, Valley of the Temples, Tetsuo Harano Tunnels (H3,) Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology, MCBH, Heʻeia Kea Small Boat Harbor and a bunch of other folks call Heʻeia home.

The image shows Heʻeia ahupuaʻa over Google Earth.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi

The US military first established a presence on the Mōkapu peninsula in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order establishing Fort Kuwaʻaohe Military Reservation on 322-acres on the northeast side of Mōkapu.

The Army stayed there until August 1940 when the Navy decided to acquire all of Mōkapu Peninsula to expand Naval Air Station Kāneʻohe; it included a sea plane base, it began building in September 1939 and commissioned on February 15, 1941.

Between 1939 and 1943, large sections of Kāneʻohe Bay were dredged for the dual purposes of deepening the channel for a sea plane runway and extending the western coastline of the peninsula with 280-acres of coral fill.

As of December 1941, two of five planned, steel hangars had been completed, each measuring 225-feet by 400-feet.

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, two waves of Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft bombed and strafed Kāneʻohe Naval Air Station, several minutes before Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Of the 36 PBY Catalina “flying boats” based here, 27 of 33 on the ground or moored in Kāneʻohe Bay were destroyed. Only three planes, out on patrol at the time of the attack, escaped and they suffered air-to-air combat damage.

Following repairs, a 5,700-foot land runway was built and 14-inch guns were brought to be set atop the edge of Ulupaʻu Crater in the seven-story deep “Battery Pennsylvania” as part of the coastal defense of Windward Oʻahu.

One of the 14-inch guns was from the USS Arizona; construction of Battery Pennsylvania was completed in August 1945. The huge gun was fired only once, in celebration, a few days before Japan’s formal surrender on V-J Day, September 2, 1945.  The firing shook and, some said, "cracked" the crater.

In 1941, this reservation became known as Camp Ulupaʻu; a year later it was redesignated as Fort Hase. It was never as permanent as the Navy’s air station side of the peninsula. Historic photos show tents and wooden structures dominating the landscape, even in August 1945. After the war, Fort Hase was rapidly emptied.

After the armistice was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, thousands of military members of all services began to pass through Pearl Harbor and other military installations in Hawaiʻi, including Kāneʻohe Naval Air Station, bound for discharge on the US Mainland and return to civilian life.

On April 1, 1946, all Kāneʻohe NAS residents and workers were evacuated as nearly 25-foot waves from the Alaska tsunami washed over the peninsula, nearly covering the runway and the Fort Hase areas before rapidly receding back to the sea.

In May of 1949, Kāneʻohe Bay NAS was decommissioned and placed in a maintenance status. All property (except buildings) was transferred to NAS Barbers Point.

The Navy put Mōkapu Peninsula land up for lease, but no interested parties came forward. By June 1950, only a small security detail remained.

The following year, in 1951, the Marine Corps decided that Mōkapu Peninsula would make an excellent home for a combined air-ground team, consolidated all landholdings and, in January 1952, commissioned Marine Corps Air Station Kāneʻohe Bay.

In 1953, the base became the home of the 1st Provisional Marine Air-Ground Task Force.

In 1993, the Navy moved its "Orion" and helicopter squadrons to MCAS, Kāneʻohe Bay from NAS, Barber’s Point, which had been selected for closure under the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC)

In April 1994, the Marine Corps consolidated all of its installations in Hawaiʻi, under a single command -- Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi (MCBH).

Today, MCB Hawaiʻi continues to serve as a fully functional operational and training base for US Marine Corps forces. The Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) here operates a 7,800-foot runway that can accommodate both fixed wing and rotor-driven aircraft.

Navy and Marine Corps units headquartered at MCB Hawaiʻi Kāneʻohe Bay, include air, ground and combat service support elements; non-operational tenants include a branch health care clinic; a judicial court; a commissary facility; veterinary services; and various Marine Corps schools and academies.

All US military units located in Hawaiʻi, and others within the Pacific theater, fall under the command of the US Pacific Command, which is headquartered - along with US Marine Corps Forces, Pacific - at Camp HM Smith, on Oʻahu.

The Commanding General of MARFORPAC also commands 12 Marine Corps bases and stations in Arizona, California, Hawaiʻi and Japan, and operational forces in Okinawa and Hawaiʻi, afloat on naval shipping and forward-deployed to Southwest Asia. The Commander, MCB Hawaiʻi, is responsible for all Marine Corps installations and facilities in Hawaiʻi.

The image shows Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi.  In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Battery Cooper

Coast Artillery existed as a distinct branch within the Army since 1901 and as a combatant "line" arm after 1920. Its stated mission was to protect fleet bases, defeat naval and air attacks against cities and harbors, undertake beach defense while acting as army or theater reserve artillery, and provide a mine-planter service.

Prior to the war, Oʻahu defenses were divided between Pearl Harbor and Honolulu Harbor; however, with more military facilities being constructed on the island, the coastal defense program also expanded.

In 1940, the Navy decided to acquire all of Mōkapu Peninsula to expand Naval Air Station Kāneʻohe, a sea plane base it had started building in September 1939 and would commission on February 15, 1941.

Between 1939 and 1943, large sections of Kāneʻohe Bay were dredged for the dual purposes of deepening the channel for a sea plane runway and extending the western coastline of the peninsula with 280-acres of coral fill.

With the development of Kāneʻohe Bay into a major naval air base, there was a need for additional coastal defense in that area.

Eventually, Kāneʻohe Bay was protected by three battery installations.  Two were built on the installation and the third was built at Lae-o-Ka-Oio, in the vicinity of what we now call Kualoa Ranch.

In about 1944, construction project ‘302’ was started for Kaneohe’s 3rd battery.  It had two 6-inch guns, built at the northern reaches of Kāneʻohe Bay.  Local engineers modified the conventional plans to fit local geographic conditions.

The battery was not named until after the end of the war (it was later named, Battery Cooper (after Avery J Cooper)) and it served for about 5-years as part of the World War II-era coastal defense program.

The site was fit for tunneling – it had soft volcanic rock and with the rugged terrain, it was decided to tunnel, rather than cut and cover the gun emplacement.

The tunneling provided a better-protected and lower-cost alternative compared to the cut and cover traditional construction.

The battery was built into the face of the cliff and had concrete-lined tunnels leading to the gun positions.  The tunnels led back 150-feet into the cliff and had rooms off of the 45-degree tunnels for magazine and support facilities.

The battery commander’s station and radar room were 75-feet above the gun level.  This was connected internally by stairs in a narrow shaft.

It wasn’t the only military facility in the vicinity.  On the level land below the cliff and extending to what we now refer to a Kualoa Beach Park was the Air Force’s Kualoa Airfield.

The Kualoa Airfield was operational from about 1942 to as late as 1947.   It had a single 6,500' (north-south) runway formed of pierced steel planking.  A row of revetments for protected aircraft parking was along the west side of the runway near the cliff.

At the end of the war, the military facilities were turned over to the private land owner (Kualoa Ranch.)

Although no longer used for military defenses, Battery Cooper is being used as a movie museum about films that have shot scenes in Kaʻaʻawa Valley.

Some of the many productions that have utilized Kualoa locations include: Karate Kid, 1984; Revealing Evidence, 1990; Jurassic Park, 1993; The Phantom, 1996; George of the Jungle, 1997; Mighty Joe Young, 1998; Krippendorf Tribe, 1998; Godzilla, 2000; Pearl Harbor, 2001; Windtalkers, 2002; Tears of the Sun, 2003; The Rundown, 2003; Along Came Polly, 2003; Fifty First Dates, 2004; You, Me & Dupree, 2006; Byrds of Paradise (TV), 1994; Fantasy Island (TV), 1999; Magnum PI (TV); Lost (TV) and Hawaii 5-0 (TV, old & new versions.)

Tours are offered that take guests to the Battery to see the “movie museum,” then guests are taken on a guided tour into the valley, where most of the movies were filmed.  (Visit Kualoa.com for more information.)  Lots of information here from Williford, ‘Defenses of Pearl Harbor and Oahu 1907-1950’)

The image shows the gun emplacement area and entrance into Battery Cooper.   In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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US Naval Air Station - Kāneʻohe Bay; December 7, 1941 Attacks

Dec. 7, 1941 will always be remembered as a “Day of Infamy,” after the devastation of Pearl Harbor.  However, some may not be aware of the events that occurred that fateful morning on the other side of the Koʻolau Mountains.

Ten months after being commissioned, US Naval Air Station - Kāneʻohe Bay was one of the first locations on Oʻahu to be attacked by Japanese forces.

Minutes prior to its attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy bombed NAS Kāneʻohe Bay.

The attack on Kāneʻohe was designed to disable the military’s long-range reconnaissance capabilities by knocking out the PBY Catalina seaplanes stationed there.

Navy Lieutenant Fusata Iida was the flight leader of carrier Soryu's squadron of 12 Japanese dive-bombers who came off the seaward side of the peninsula during a 10-minute strike on the base.

Of the 36 PBY Catalina "flying boat" seaplanes, including those moored in Kāneʻohe Bay, 27 were destroyed and six others were damaged.

Only the three Catalinas that were out on patrol escaped attack. However, departing Japanese Zero aircraft attacked those three; one returned with 81 bullet holes in it.

The first Japanese aircraft destroyed in action during the December 7 attack were shot down at Kāneʻohe.

During the attack, Lt. Iida’s plane had been hit and was leaking fuel, when he apparently used it to make a suicide attack. (Before taking off, he had told his men that if his plane was badly damaged he would crash it into a "worthy enemy target.")

He signaled that the rest of the planes should return to the ship and pointed to the ground, indicating that he would attempt to crash his plane into a suitable target.

Missing valuable targets, Iida’s plane crashed into the side of a hill on the base.

Navy Lt. John W. Finn, aviation chief ordnanceman, is credited for shooting down the Japanese Zero.  During the attack, Finn left his quarters to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted in a parking ramp.  While doing so, he sustained multiple wounds.  His actions earned him the Medal of Honor.

A second wave of bomber planes came approximately 20 minutes later and dropped more bombs.  One of the hangars (now Hangar 102) received a direct hit during this attack and exploded.

The second attack is credited for most of the casualties (due to bomb fragments.)  The Kāneʻohe raid killed 18 U.S. sailors and one civilian; 65 were injured.

Iida was buried at the Heleloa burial area, near the mass burial site of the 18 Sailors.  (The remains of each were later disinterred and returned to their respective homes in the US and Japan.)

A stone and cement marker with bronze plaque, located along Reed Road, marks the approximate crash site.  The Iida marker may be the only marker on a US military installation dedicated to an enemy soldier.

Representatives of several Japanese organizations regularly gather to remember Iida with a solemn ceremony and to honor the 19 who died there.

Of the artifacts surviving from pilot’s crash site, a helmet believed to be Iida’s was returned to his relatives at a ceremony at MCB Hawaiʻi in 1999.

There were a total of nine Zero pilots and aircraft lost during the attacks on December 7, 1941.

Three pilots were lost during the first wave attack, Takashi Hirano, from the carrier Akagi along with Kaga-based pilots Seinoshin Sano and Toru Haneda, did not return.

Six Zero fighter pilots were lost in the second wave attack, including Lt. Fusata Iida, Shun-Ichi Atsumi and Saburo Ishii, all members of the same element from the carrier Soryu.

In addition, Shigenori Nishikaichi, from the carrier Hiryu, crash-landed and was killed on the island of Niʻihau.  Ippei Goto, along with his companion from the carrier Kaga, Tomio Inenaga, went missing in action.

Information and photos summarized here are primarily from Marine and other military sources.  The image shows the Lt. Fusata Iida Memorial at Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi.  In addition, other images are included in a folder of like name in the Photo section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kāneʻohe Bay Airshow - 2012

The Kāneʻohe Bay Airshow at Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi will take place on September 29-30, 2012 and is free to the public.

Performances in the Air

US Navy Blue Angels

At the end of World War II, the Chief of Naval Operations, Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in naval Aviation. The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration less than a year later in June 1946 at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida.

By the end of the 1940s, the Blue Angels were flying their jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. In response to the demands placed on Naval Aviation in the Korean Conflict, the team reported to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton as the nucleus of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191), "Satan's Kittens," in 1950.  Today the Blue Angels fly the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet.

Fat Albert

Transporting Blue Angels maintenance and support personnel, communication equipment and spare parts is a United States Marine Corps C-130T Hercules nicknamed, “Fat Albert Airlines.” In past Kaneohe Bay Airshows, Fat Albert has demonstrated its jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) capability which enables the plane to takeoff from as little as 1,500 feet of runway, climb at a steep 45-degree angle, and attain an altitude of 1,000 feet within 15 seconds.             

Chuck Aaron

"Malibu" Chuck Aaron is the first and only civilian pilot ever to be licensed to perform helicopter aerobatics in the United States. In fact, he's one of only a handful of pilots permitted to execute the dangerous maneuvers internationally. Chuck is also the first helicopter pilot to be presented with the Art Scholl Showmanship Award, an honor bestowed by the International Council of Air Shows to recognize the world's most outstanding air show performers, and was inducted in 2011 to the prestigious Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Kirby Chambliss

Kirby Chambliss is noted as one of the best aerobatic pilots in the world. A five-time winner of the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship and a former Men's Freestyle World Champion, he's also fast, world-class fast. Kirby is one of only two American pilots ever to win the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, an international series in which pilots push the envelope by executing aerobatic maneuvers with absolute precision while racing against the clock.

               

Mike Wiskus

Like many of the show pilots, Mike's passion for aviation started when he was very young. Mike's Dad took him to his first air show at their hometown in Iowa at the age of 10. Thirty two years later, Mike has accumulated more than 24,000 flight hours and has qualified in more than 40 aircraft. Mike keeps a very busy schedule flying for Corporate America as well as keeping a full time air show schedule from April through November.

               

Hank Bruckner

Hank Bruckner was always captivated by aircraft and flying. He became a flight instructor shortly before retiring from the Air Force in 1990, and began instructing, eventually starting his own flight school—Kaimana Aviation—where he currently teaches aerobatics, unusual altitude recoveries, spins and tailwheel transition training.

               

Clint Churchill

Clint’s flying career began 45 years ago while attending college at the University of Arizona. Upon graduating, Clint joined the Tucson Air National Guard. Two years later he completed USAF pilot training as a Distinguished Graduate.  “Sensing the need to keep pulling some Gs,” as Clint puts it, he founded Acroflight, Inc. in 1996 and acquired an Extra 300L which he named Onipa’a (strong, steadfast). Clint has provided aerobatic rides to more than 500 customers and performed 24 air shows at various locations in Hawai’i. He has 4,200 flight hours, including 1,100 hours in the Extra.

               

Alan Miller

The son of a career Navy man, Alan Miller’s life-long passion for aviation began while growing up aboard Barbers Point Naval Air Station in Hawaiʻi.  After two years of anticipation and preparation, Alan and his and crew are pleased to bring his uniquely “local style” two-part performance to Oahu for the very first time during the Kaneohe Bay Airshow in 2012.

               

Jacquie B

When most people turn 50, they figure it’s time to relax and settle into neutral while coasting toward retirement. Not Jacquie B!  When Jacquie turned 50, she launched her solo aerobatic career with her one-of-a-kind Pitts Special biplane.  Nearly ten years later, Jacquie B is still in this game, and her list of performance dates is growing. Moreover, Jacquie is a powerful inspiration to her two million fans who realize that they, too, can accomplish great things later in life.

               

Leap Frogs

The U.S. Navy Parachute Team, "Leap Frogs" will be free falling out of an aircraft 12,500 feet from the ground.  When free falling, jumpers reach speeds of 180 miles per hour as their body straightens, similar to luge racers. Be on the lookout for the following formations: downplanes, sideplanes, dragplanes, diamonds, big stacks, tri-by-sides, and T formations.

               

The Flying Leathernecks

The Flying Leathernecks are a group of skydivers who share the passion for jumping. Their 10,000-ft. jump will be a patriotic exhibit including a large American flag, smoke trailers and starburst effects.

               

Flash Fire Jet Truck

Check out the action as the fire-breathing Flash Fire Jet Truck hits the runway in competition with planes overhead. Will it be wings or wheels that finish first? This act is sure to be a crowd pleaser for all ages, mixing all the fun and entertaining elements of a family friendly circus with a combination of extreme speed and high intensity, fire breathing excitement!

Action on the ground:

Marine Air-Ground Task Force Demonstration

Military Static Displays - Military vehicles and iarcraft

Taste of Oahu Food Booths

Xtreme Fun Children's Carnival Rides

At ALL entry points to the air show flight line, ALL bags will be quickly inspected, and all individuals are subject to search prior to entering the air show flight line.

Please note that large bags and/or backpacks, ice chests and coolers will not be permitted. Small bags, such as purses, fanny packs, and diaper bags (8 1/2 x 11) will be permitted. It is recommended that spectators minimize the number and size of permitted items to reduce the inspection time prior to access into the flight line area.

There will be two entrance lines at each gate. One will be for people carrying bags, or other items to be inspected, and one for those with no inspection items.

Images from the 2010 Airshow are posted in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page. (All rights reserved by MCCS Hawaii.) 

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC