"Hawaii has never had anything like this so I thought it would be pretty cool," said pilot Alan Miller.
A 1946 airplane sitting on a truck, how it got there will blow your mind.
"No fancy gauges or anything you just look outside, it’s seat of the pants flying."
It’s the type of flying that excites Miller who is 100 percent local boy.
"He’s attempting to touchdown on the white hash mark," said team member Cliff Kapololu. "If his wheel is on that mark and he knows he has an equal distance on that side to go but that’s all the side movement he has."
Miller taxis out to the runway. When the truck hits 60 miles per hour he takes off. That’s the easy part.
"If you’re flying into a strong head wind like we are today the truck drives a little bit slower," he said. He wants the truck to slow so he can land on it.
"We want the airplane to be at about 50 when it touches down so he’ll probably start out at 40 today maybe 45 and then we either add five or subtract five over the radio."
The 20 mph winds at Kalaeloa Airport are wreaking havoc. He appears to touchdown but then suddenly lifts off.
"You play it by ear each time and if it’s too gnarly you just bail," he said.
We try another runway on the second approach but the winds aren’t cooperating. After nearly a minute we near the end of the runway so he aborts the attempt. This takes a tremendous coordination between Kapololu, the spotter Kele Fergerstrom and Miller. Miller’s third approach is the charm.
"You got to kind of manage the power to roll up and there’s little pockets that are about this big that you kind of park the wheels in at the front," said Miller who’s been flying for 32 years. He’s currently a commercial pilot with Delta Airlines and also flies World War II airplanes at mainland air shows.
"This is the stuff that keeps me going, doing flying like this you know there’s nothing to sitting there with the auto pilot on," he laughs.
He’s one of only three pilots in the world doing this. He’s got the guts and the skill to do so.
"If you chicken out on any place around here it ‘aint working," said Kapololu.
He’ll showcase the act and an even wilder one on May 28th and 29th at the Kona air show.
Miller thanks his team members, tower personnel at Kalaeloa Airport and fellow pilots and schools, as well as the state’s airport division for allowing his team to practice and work on the acts.
If you’re interested in assisting Miller’s flying team financially email him at wamaero@gmail.com.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
