MAUNA LOA
HELICOPTER
SCHOOLS:
HAWAII, KAUAI,
OAHU

3 Helicopter Schools to choose from:

Mauna Loa Helicopter Schools are unique in that you can choose the location and island that best suits your lifestyle and temperament. Some people like the big city, others like a more rural setting. Whichever base of operations you choose, you’ll be assured of receiving Mauna Loa’s professional and consistently excellent helicopter pilot training. Here are your choices:

Hawaii (Kona)

Hawaii is frequently referred to as ‘The Big Island’, and for an excellent reason: Its land mass is more than twice the size of all the other Hawaiian island combined, over 4000 square miles. From our helicopter school and headquarters at the Kona International Airport, you will find convenient practice areas virtually everywhere: cinder cones (old volcanic craters) to practice pinnacle approaches and confined area operations; towering elevations (from 8000 to nearly 14,000’) close by for mountain training and ridgeline operations. Much of the wide open spaces found on the Big Island are within uncontrolled airspace, which is ideal for flight training. There are lush valleys on the north side of the island with 2000’ cliffs, & also smaller airports available for your cross-country work, with miles and miles of eye-popping scenery to keep you awake in between. On the southeast side of the island is where the world’s newest land is being created at the Kilauea Volcano. Students have a number of opportunities to see new earth being made during their training. In Kona, all of our instrument flight training in done in a Robinson R44 combined with the Fly-It helicopter flight Simulator that is located there as well.

Place of Interest:
Kilauea Volcano
Mauna Kea Observatories
Hapuna Beach
Makalawena Beach
Hilo

Kauai

There is perhaps no lovelier island in the Hawaiian chain than this, the Garden Island. Most tourists understand that a helicopter tour of the famed Na Pali Coast is a must. But Kauai also offers wonderful opportunities for the helicopter-pilot-in-training. You’ll see firsthand how the helicopter tourism industry works and gain valuable insight into whether this would make a good career choice for you as a professional pilot. Although small in terms of square miles, 520 to be exact, there are no fewer than seven helicopter operators working on the island. Yet for all this, Lihue Airport is quiet enough that you can practice auto rotations right at the field.



Place of Interest:
Waimea Canyon
Hanalei Bay
Nawiliwili Harbor
Lihue

Oahu

Our Honolulu base offers the hustle and bustle of an island of one million people and busy Class B airspace at Honolulu International Airport. Flying in and out of this airport will help you build the skills and confidence you’ll need to fly in the busiest airspace in the country. Oahu gives you all the advantages of living in a large city while retaining the relaxed island lifestyle residents here cherish. Honolulu offers a vibrant cosmopolitan population, the excitement of a first-class tourist destination in Waikiki Beach, a myriad of job opportunities, cultural attractions, nightlife, and some of the world’s best surfing on the fabled North Shore.



Places of Interest:
Pearl Harbor & Arizona Memorial
Diamond Head
Polynesian Cultural Center
Hanauma Bay
Any North Shore beach

A Training Environment Second To None

Hawaii’s unique environment includes high mountains up to 13,796 ft/4,200 meters, active volcanoes, constantly changing weather conditions and the 11th busiest airspace in the U.S. at Honolulu International Airport. Hawaii is the perfect place to complete your helicopter pilot training.

The weather in the Hawaiian Islands is excellent for year-round training. In fact, Hawaii offers the best climate in the U.S. You don’t have to put up with the extreme heat of states such as Arizona, nor the bitter cold or high summer humidity of the eastern and southern states, which makes your flight training uncomfortable. Our flight operations are unobstructed by fog, which is common on the west coast. Our average daily temperature is in the low to mid eighties during summer months and the mid-to-upper seventies in the winter. It’s never too hot here and certainly not cold.

Train For Flying In The Real World

The best helicopter schools prepare you for flying in the real world. In addition to mountain flying and sling load training, Mauna Loa Helicopters offer you the opportunities to experience offshore operations. Your cross-country fights will be conducted between airports and other designated landing areas, and also between the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu.

During your training, you’ll have many opportunities to practice flying in the ‘bush’, rugged terrain, mountains and valleys. Some of your Commercial training will be focused around confined area and ridgeline landings. Night flight training is included in our Private and Commercial courses. We also have a state-of-the-art, FAA approved Fly-It flight simulator to speed up your instrument training, while making it more economical.

Housing

Affordable housing is available on each island. At our Kona location, we have dormitory style housing that are available at $400 a month. Expect a slightly higher cost of living here on the islands compared to rural America, but over a million people do and it is most rewarding to all of our students here at Mauna Loa Helicopters. On average, students will spend between $600 and $900 per month on rent and utilities. Our staff will assist you in finding student housing either when you arrive or in advance. We work with local real estate companies on all of the islands; and on Oahu we also work with local educational institutions to find suitable accommodations for incoming students. Just give us a call and let us know when you will be arriving, and we’ll advise you of the areas and neighborhoods in which you may want to focus your housing search.

A popular and successful option for many of our students is simply to comb the classified ads in the local newspapers to locate housing. We can send you the local newspaper classified sections, or you can log on to these web sites to see what is available:

On Kauai, go to:
KauaiWorld.com

On the Big Island, go to:
WestHawaiiToday.com

On Oahu, look for:
HonoluluAdvertiser.com
StarBulletin.com
Apartments.com
Rentalsillustrated.com

Dorm-style accommodations on Oahu:

Atherton YMCA – A co-ed dorm across from the University of Hawaii campus and houses 52 bed spaces. Double rooms for a semester are $1,953. Single rooms are $2,853. Call (808) 946-0253, or e-mail contact@athertonymca.org.

Nuuanu YMCA – Slightly closer to the airport, this dormitory offers single room rates of $160 per week plus a $5 key deposit. Reservations must be made three weeks in advance with one days’ deposit. Call (808) 536-3556.

Kalo Terrace – An apartment complex with 94 bed spaces within 24 units. Rates are between $550 and $575 a month with an additional $42 fee for utilities, cleaning and supplies. Parking is $50 a month. Swimming pool. Call (808) 955-2470, or e-mail kaloterrace@hawaii.rr.com.

Transportation

Incoming students generally buy a moped, motorcycle or used car to get to and from our airport locations, and then sell the vehicle when training is complete. Honolulu offers regularly scheduled bus service to the airport; the bus service in Kona and Kauai is limited.

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