Helicopters and Jets
Fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft have been around in Hawai‘i for a long time. Most local flying enthusiasts and history buffs are aware that the first Island airplane flight was made by J. C. “Bus” Mars, who flew a Curtiss biplane from Moanalua Polo Field on December 31, 1910.
Helicopters and jet aircraft are far more recent developments, however, with both arriving in the mid-or late 1940s. The first helicopter flight in the islands took place at the Hawaiian Air Depot, O‘ahu, a few days before August 3, 1945. The helicopter was a Sikorsky R-6A piloted by Captain Jack E. Beighle. It had been received in sections and was assembled by a Hawaiian Air Depot crew, most of whom had never seen such a device. Captain Beighle was obviously a brave man.
Jet aircraft followed in 1947 and 1948. In October 1947, the Navy brought in a Ryan Fire-Ball, a hybrid powered by both piston and jet engines. The first true jet aircraft flown in Hawai‘i, however, was a Lockheed TO-1 Shooting Star, piloted by Captain Paul Ramsey. For its maiden flight, the jet took off from Barbers Point Naval Air Station on October 26,1948, and made a 25-minute, 580-mph dash to Honolulu and back. Spectators were impressed.