Night at the Spring Dance Hall

by Split Scimitar

A: Location Scouting

KMHR SAC PYE SUPER MAFIC MANEY DADIE R576 DENNS ITO PHTO, wheels up at 8:30 local, flown by N8600F.

“Mather ground, Shadowbolt 5, IFR to Hilo.”

“Shadowbolt 5, cleared to Hilo via SAC, V6, OAK, RAINS, then as filed. Maintain 12,000, departure frequency 127.4, squawk 2015.”

“Cleared to Hilo via Sacramento, Victor 6, Oakland, RAINS, then as filed, 12,000 on departure, NorCal departure 127.4, squawk 2015, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, readback correct. Advise when ready to taxi. The ATIS is Oscar.”

“Shadowbolt 5.”

Passengers briefed.

2 alight and stable. Surfaces check. Set flaps 10.

“Sacramento Mather airport information Oscar, 1615Z, wind 170 at 4, visibility 10, sky clear below 12,000. Temperature 7, dewpoint -1, altimeter 29.94. ILS runway 22L and visual runway 22R in use. Landing and departing runway 22L and runway 22R. All VFR aircraft say direction of flight. All aircraft read back all runway hold short instructions. Advise on initial contact you have information Oscar.”

“Ground, Shadowbolt 5, Oscar, ready to taxi.”

“Shadowbolt 5, ground, runway 22L, taxi via A A1.”

“A A1, runway 22L, Shadowbolt 5.”

Spool up to taxi power, join A, all the way to the end.

“Mather tower, Shadowbolt 5, short of 22R ready for departure.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Mather tower. Runway 22R, cleared for takeoff. Turn right heading 235.”

“Cleared for takeoff 22R, right heading 235, Shadowbolt 5.”

80 knots.

V₁

Rotate.

V₂

Positive rate, gear up.

Flaps up.

“Shadowbolt 5, contact departure. Great flight.”

“Over to departure, Shadowbolt 5.” “NorCal departure, Shadowbolt 5 off Mather, 2,200 climbing 12,000, heading 235.”

“Shadowbolt 5, NorCal departure, good morning, proceed direct Sacramento, climb and maintain 12,000.”

“Direct Sacramento, 12,000, Shadowbolt 5.”

---

“Hilo tower, Shadowbolt 5 at BISEN, visual 26.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Hilo tower. Winds 210 at 3, runway 26, cleared to land. If able, please minimize use of reverse thrust.”

“Cleared to land 26, no reverse thrust, Shadowbolt 5.”

Set flaps 5.

Below 200 knots. Set flaps 10.

Below 190. Lower landing gear, 15 flaps.

3 green down and locked. 2,500’. Flaps 25.

Turn final. Flaps 30. 1,000’.

Landing gear, 3 green down and locked.
Flaps, set to 30.
Spoilers, armed.
Auto brakes, set to 2.

100.

50.

40.

30.

20.

10.

Touchdown! Spoilers up, brakes on. None in reverse.

“Shadowbolt 5, left C, contact ground .9.”

“C, contact ground, Shadowbolt 5.” “On behalf of your Southern California based flight crew, welcome to Hilo. Currently it’s… 10:21 in the morning. Weather 76°, gentle offshore flow and skies clear. For your continued comfort and safety, please wait until we’ve come to a complete stop and the seatbelt sign has been turned off. At that time, please use caution when opening overhead bins. Items may have shifted and could fall, injuring you or someone else around you. As this is the termination of our flight, please do make sure you have all personal belongings with you. Thanks again, welcome to Hilo.”

Left on taxiway C, contact ground. “Hilo ground, Shadowbolt 5, taxi to parking.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Hilo ground, taxi to parking via C.”

“C to parking, Shadowbolt 5.”

Because there are a handful of students aboard, the two chaperones are Cadance and the head sponsor of the student association, Radiant Hope, one of the school nurses. I don’t have to do any driving, and since their visit here is short, we can get out of Hawaii before the return becomes a red eye. Not that I’d have a problem with that.

In any case, once they claim rental cars, I rent a car of my own and head into Hilo. Since I’m on the clock until we return to Sacramento, I cannot partake in any drinks, but instead I order a round of apps enjoyed with a glass of ginger beer.

After I knock back a couple more glasses to rid my mouth of the foods i8 (if only I had brought a BMW), I drive down to Leilani Estates. Now that most of the fallout from Kilauea has subsided, I can check the place out. Not a whole lot to see if I’m honest, but I wonder if there are any homes for sale.

Two hours later, we all return to the plane and head for the next spot, Kahului.

VFR in a 737, shooting the gap between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, thence up the channel to Maui. Can’t beat it. The best part? We’re landing on runway 20, which is opposite the norm. This means flying over the town of Hana, which I point out, along with the titular highway, and we’re in pretty smoothly.

Even though Rosalina isn’t here, I park at Sunshine since I am an owner by proxy.

Rinse and repeat with rental cars, except this time I head for my house in Wailuku. Not expecting more than a couple hours here, I enjoy a few minutes on my lanai, with a view of the same island, but mostly just west Maui. Of course, laying back like this would afford at least a stroll in the backyard, since this house is on a large acreage. Enjoying a rare bit of peace in a tropical spring marred by spotty rain, I’m glad to at least be warm, since both Victorville and March are pretty windy right now.

This visit lasts longer than Hilo’s, so once we meet back at the airport, we spend a little extra time here to brief me on the situation.

“Okay, Captain Scimitar,” Echelon begins. “It looks like our most likely candidate will be here on Maui. I know we still have to look at Oahu and Kauai venues, but this one looks like the best option.”

“Okay. Out of curiosity, what’s working against Hilo?”

“Space and catering. We’d have to do our own catering, which isn’t too much of a problem, but at least here, their catering is on-site, which just makes life easier.”

“I see. Well, shall we move on to Oahu?”

---

“Honolulu Tower, Shadowbolt 5, Juliet, visual 4R.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Honolulu tower, say parking.”

“Air Service, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Roger, runway 4R, cleared to land. Information Kilo now current. Winds 060 at 9, altimeter 30.12.”

“Copy K, cleared to land 4R, Shadowbolt 5.”

50.

40.

30.

20.

10.

Touchdown. Spoilers up, brakes on, 2 in reverse.

45 knots. Disengage reverse thrust.

“Shadowbolt 5, continue to the end, right C, taxi Air Service via C, ground is 121.9.”

“Right C, Air Service via C, ground 21.9, Shadowbolt 5.”

Parked, fueling in progress of only a couple hundred gallons, half each into the wings. Gotta keep the center tank as light as possible.

This time, despite my massive chunks of real estate, I decide to join them in a rental of my own, so I rent an exotic. The car I get? A Jeep Gladiator. I have a few of these, and suffice it to say, the rental is cheaper than any of the ones I own, but enough about me flaunting. I honestly hate it, but sometimes, it does feel good to flex.

In a familiar car, I join the streets of Honolulu, feeling an ill-defined yet nauseating sense of vacancy in the city’s highways (yes, Honolulu was at one point the nation’s worst traffic, beating out Chicago, Seattle, Boston (the current number one), New York, and Los Angeles.)

No matter. Following behind the others, we reach our venue in Ko Olina, right down the road from Aulani. One of my ex-wives works for Disney, and we’re fortunately still on good terms, so if I really wanted to, I could contact her, but they have it handled.

Thoroughly impressed with the venue but again hung up on catering, the invoice is staggering. Unfortunately, on account of the lack of catering rather than the price, CPA declines, since I did promise some price-matching as my little promo for my services. Nevertheless, we carve out about an hour of free time, so we head for one of my many properties on this island so they can relax mentally and I can look at weather both on the route to Kauai and along the R-routes to see if there are any issues to look out for weather-wise.

Once my flight plan is submitted, taking advantage of another chance to go VFR in a 737, we head for Inouye, not in a terrible rush, because as I’m finding out, for reasons unknown to me, traffic at the busiest airport in the state is way down.

Ho hum. As we load, I get rolling quickly to try and be one of the last departures before either of the East-West runways stop use because of the winds favoring the others.

“Honolulu clearance, Shadowbolt 5, Air Service, Punchbowl departure to Līhu‘e.”

“Shadowbolt 5, understand VFR departure, planned route KEOLA, Victor 16, NAPUA.”

“Affirm, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, disregard punchbowl, expect radar vectors through the Class Bravo. Say your cruising altitude.”

“16,000, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, roger. Standby.”

“Shadowbolt 5, we’ll go ahead and start our engines. Will advise when ready.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Roger.”

Initiate start procedure.

2 alight and stable.

“Clearance, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, cleared to Lihue airport via radar vectors to KEOLA, expect own nav from KEOLA. Expect an immediate right turn heading 255, climb and maintain 8,000. HCF departure frequency 118.3, squawk 0321.”

“Cleared to Līhu‘e via radar vectors to KEOLA, thence own nav. Immediate right turn heading 255, climb and maintain 8,000. Departure 118.3, squawk 0321, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, readback correct, the ATIS is Alpha, Ground is .9.”

“Shadowbolt 5.”

“Daniel K. Inouye international airport information Alpha. 0155Z. Wind 050 at 6, visibility 10, sky clear below 12,000. Temperature 23, dewpoint 20, altimeter 29.94. Visual runway 4L, ILS runway 4R, ILS runway 8L, and visual runway 8R in use. Landing and departing runway 4L, runway 4R, runway 8L, and runway 8R. Notices to airmen: various cranes flagged and lighted in various quadrants. Advisory: all aircraft read back runway hold short instructions. All VFR aircraft contact clearance delivery prior to taxi. Advise on initial contact you have information Alpha.”

“Honolulu ground, Shadowbolt 5, Air Service, Alpha, taxi departure to Līhu‘e.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Honolulu ground. With the wind 060 at 8, it’s your lucky day. Which runway would you like?”

“We’ll take 8R, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, roger. Runway 8R, taxi via C RT RA, hold short RB.”

“C RT RA, short of RB, runway 8R, Shadowbolt 5.”

“United 218, monitor tower 123.9.”

“Over to tower, United 218.”

“Shadowbolt 5, ground.”

“Shadowbolt 5.”

“Can you accept runway 4R instead?”

“No problem.”

“Shadowbolt 5, roger. Runway 4R, taxi via C.”

“C to 4R, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Hawaiian 363, monitor tower 118.1.”

“18.1, Hawaiian 363.”

Once I stop at the hold short line, I run the checklist again and double check the flight computer, even though I plan on pseudo-hand flying the whole thing.

“Honolulu tower, Shadowbolt 5 short of 4R, ready for departure.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Honolulu tower, runway 4R, line up and wait, traffic is a 717 departing runway 4L, same destination.”

“Line up and wait 4R, Shadowbolt 5.”

*text – now – Twilight Sparkle*

“Hey, are you with Cadance right now?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Is she helping pick out a venue for her school’s spring dance?”

“Yeah. She chartered me.”

“Are you going to be taking them to Hawaii?”

“Presumably, if they choose here.”

“Hawaiian 363, contact HCF departure, good flight.”

“Over to departure, Hawaiian 363.”

“Shadowbolt 5, turn right heading 255, runway 4R, cleared for takeoff.”

“Cleared for takeoff 4R, immediate heading 255, Shadowbolt 5.”

80 knots.

V₁

Rotate.

V₂

Positive rate, gear up.

Autopilot engage, immediate right turn heading 255, climb and maintain 8,000. Flaps stay down to help tighten the turn.

“Shadowbolt 5, caution wake turbulence departed United 777, contact HCF departure.”

“Over to departure, Shadowbolt 5.” “Honolulu departure, Shadowbolt 5 off Inouye, turning heading 255.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Honolulu departure. Altitude restriction removed, traffic a mad dog 4 o’clock, 3 miles, climbing to 14,000. Expect direct KEOLA in about 2 to 3 minutes.”

“In sight, climbing 16,000, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, roger.”

Roll out on 255, flaps up.

A quick climb up to 16,000, I don’t even bother to turn the seatbelt sign off because as soon as we get to cruising, we spend about 5 minutes level thanks to HCF’s advisories for the Hawaiian traffic ahead of us.

“Lihue airport information Lima, 0235Z, wind 200 at 10, visibility 10. Sky clear below 12,000. Temperature 21, dewpoint 16, altimeter 29.99. Visual runway 21 in use. Landing and departing runway 21. All VFR aircraft contact clearance delivery prior to taxi. Advisory: all aircraft read back all runway hold short instructions. Advise on initial contact you have information Lima.”

“Līhu’e tower, Shadowbolt 5, Lima, inbound to land.”

“Shadowbolt 5, Lihue tower. Traffic on the visual for 21 a Hawaiian Airlines 717. Runway 21, number 2, proceed inbound.”

“Number 2 for runway 21, Hawaiian traffic in sight, Shadowbolt 5.”

“Shadowbolt 5, say parking.”

“Sunshine.”

“Roger.”

Below 210, Flaps 5.

Flaps 10.

Below 200. Flaps 15.

Landing assured, lower landing gear. “Hawaiian 363, right K, straight ahead to gate 2, remain this frequency.”

3 green, down and locked. “K to gate 2, Hawaiian 363.”

“Shadowbolt 5, runway 21, cleared to land.” Flaps 25.

“Cleared to land, Shadowbolt 5.” Turn final. Flaps 30. 1000.

50.

40.
30.

20.
10.

Touchdown! Spoilers up, brakes on, 2 in reverse.

“Shadowbolt 5, right M, M A B to Sunshine, monitor ground 121.9.”

“Right M, M A B to Sunshine, monitor ground, Shadowbolt 5.”

Parked, shut down. Fueling in progress. Rosalina is here, but unavailable at present. She’s doing a check flight.

Thanks to running a little behind in Honolulu, they are a few minutes late to their viewing appointment for the venue in Princeville. Ironically, Rosalina’s check flight as I’ve just discovered is over that area, so lucky them. I in prep for the long return journey, do an extra-vigilant preflight, especially since the landing was pretty firm. To clarify, a necessary firm, because of the short runway.

I file for departure in 2.5 hours, but we’ll probably be a little bit later than that depending on what they want to do for lunch and dinner. Because our projected arrival in Sacramento is almost midnight, we’ll leave here at close to 14:30, so lunch (and definitely dinner) will have to be pre-purchased, as I don’t have any substantial foodstuffs aboard. The snacks I do have are boring, so I do recommend buying food for the long journey home.

Just to keep me from getting too fatigued, I step into the spare office and take a power nap, expecting at least a couple hours to gain.

When I get woken up, it’s by a text from Cadance.

“Hey Max, we’re ready when you are.”

“Are you on your way back to the airport?”

“We have a little bit of time, do you want to get something to eat?”

“Sure. I don’t have a car though, so you’ll have to pick me up.”

“That’s fine. We’re about 10 minutes away.”

“I’ll be ready.”

5 minutes later, I’m outside waiting for the others. Cadance’s car has its passenger seat open so I climb in.

“Okay, what do you recommend?”

“Are there any dietary concerns or considerations?” I ask to the rest of the car.

“Peanut allergy!” One calls from the back.

“And there are two others that are gluten free and lactose intolerant in the other car.”

“Is anyone uncomfortable with seafood?”

“Certain types. I’m pretty chill about it though.”

“Okay. I’ll ask the other car.” I say as I climb out.

“Hello,” I greet Radiant Hope, “are there any dietary allergies or concerns, and is anyone not okay with seafood?”

“One is gluten free, and the other lactose intolerant. No one objects to seafood, as long as there’s a good selection of fish.”

“Okay. I’m going to show you one of my wife’s and my favorite places to eat.”

When we arrive at the restaurant, I finally respond to Twilight.

“Do you think you can squeeze all of us in on your manifest?”

“Yeah. Have you talked to Cadance about it?”

“Not yet. This is a weird request, but I imagine you should be okay with it. The girls and I haven’t really done anything that’s just us, discounting our gathering in Chicago that one holiday. I’ve been wanting to organize a girl’s break and now that all our schedules allow for it at the same time, can we join you?”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

“Also, by request of Rainbow Dash, can you get us flight attendant certified?”

“What’s the meaning of this?”

“Just another one of her brilliant ideas.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you when we all meet. When’s the dance?”

“First weekend in March.”

“We’ll see you that week then.”