Flying over Hawaii makes 'Top 50 Adventures' list

There’s something on the list for every kind of explorer, says Elite Traveler, a publication distributed on private jets. That includes a package available through Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts’ Four Seasons Lanai giving aspiring pilots a chance to “learn to fly a Cirrus SR22 and perform basic maneuvers such as takeoff, cruising and landing at the Maui Flight Academy.”

As if learning to fly in a top-of-the-line single such as a Cirrus SR22 were not thrilling enough, the practice area for the flight lessons includes flying “directly over an active volcano vent,” traveling along next to Molokai sea cliffs, or flying above the mountains of West Maui. Then land in Hana for some exploring of the rain forest.

If the flying bug really bites, Elite Traveler says, a “Fab 5” package can extend your flight time with a full day’s flying to five fabulous locales including Molokai, Honolulu, Lanai, the Big Island, and Maui. According to Maui Flight Academy, which features a variety of flight experiences for novices and veteran aviators alike, Fab 5 is the one “for those who desire the ultimate.”

Been there? Done that?

By now any pilot reading about the Top 50 Adventures must be thinking that no globe-spanning sampling of 50 extraordinary escapades could have only one articulation of the aeronautic arts among the selections.

That conclusion is confirmed by perusing the list, where, among the terrestrial trips and marine marvels—think Mount Everest, superyacht regattas, and  swimming with whale sharks off Los Cabos—one finds an opportunity to skydive in Belize; experience near-space flight (as a passenger, sorry); fly in a hot air balloon in Turkey; paraglide in California; “heliski” in New Zealand; or “helitour” jagged peaks and alpine forests of Canada’s Rocky Mountains.