WIXers in Hawaii - A Brit abroad

[Manonthefence]

Mrs Fence and I are off to Hawaii at the end of September for a friends wedding, our itinerary has us on Oahu for a couple of days to visit Pearl Harbour, can anyone give me some advice about other must see aviation places on the Island.

We are also visiting Kauai (sorry about the spelling if its wrong) and Hawaii as well (will only have a car on Oahu and Hawaii) so any suggestions for those islands would be greatly received.

Any WIXers on Hawaii?

[TimAPNY]

Pearl is a good spot to stop. I pulled in there several times in the Late 90's. If you can get on to Ford Island go see the USS Utah Memory on the far side. Walking around the Island is a trip. I don't think much has changed there after WW2. There is a Walk to the top of Diamond Head Creator that you can see the Defenses set up on the island. Beautiful views. Just take some water with you. I’m not sure if the AFB has the Gate Guardians Viewable to the public or if they are still there.

Hike to Top of Diamond Head Creator
Army Museum in Honolulu? (A few tanks, AH-1..)
USS Missouri
USS Utah at Ford Island (if you can)
Punch Bowl National Cemetery of the Pacific

[David_Aiken]

Aloha All,
Since 9-11 the restrictions to Ford Island is prohibitive yet there are ways...

Visitors and friends have compiled a large list of places to go and helpful procedures at: http://www.pearlharborattacked.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard4/ikonboard.cgi?s=4107bdfd11e7ffff;act=SF;f=45

I highly recommend the book, if you can get it shipped in time to you: Colonel Charles A. Jones: Hawaii's World War II Military Sites: A Comprehensive Guide Focusing On O'ahu, [Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 2002]. Ordering info is at: http://www.pearlharborattacked.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard4/ikonboard.cgi?s=4107be2212efffff;act=ST;f=45;t=939

"One thing I did notice above all is the directions he gives to get to various sites. Obviously the majority of this work was done prior to Sept 11th, for currently, most of the spots listed in here are closed and off limits to visitors. This book will probably be the closest most of us will come to these sites in a long time. However, the directions he gives to places are excellent!"

Hope this helps,
David Aiken

[Manonthefence]

Thanks for the replys guys, the links are useful and I will investigate them.

Anyone else???

[TimAPNY]

The North shore area and the Backside (East side) of the island are a lot nice to be around then Honolulu and Waikiki. I never had the chance to visit up in the mountains. I’m sure that that is far better then the beaches.

check out Dillingham field on the north end of the island!! lots of ww2 stuff in the weeds,ex b-24 base many many reventments all overgrown beware of the local pot growers in the area!Barbers point is now all civillian many intresting items to see ,still many ww2 wrecks see Airpirates web site Good luck Mike

[Tom_W]

Hello MOTF, I visited on the way to NZ in 2000 and found the Kane’ohe Bay Naval base a really interesting spot if you're allowed on there nowadays, you could try e-mailing before you travel as there are some really knowledgeable servicepeople stationed there who know an awful lot about the attack and goings on at the time and they showed my group all the sites you read about and see in books and on the TV. Hope you have a good time, I did :-D

Tom ;)