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Hawaii at Last

Written by FHS Team.

hulahulaMichael did it!

On September 19-30th, 2012 Michael Combs and Hope One completed the journey to Hawaii, the 50th state, accomplishing the original mission.

We at the Flight for the Human Spirit are feeling a little numb.  Our goal is complete but Michael is still pushing to set more records.  The 50th state was incredibly challenging to attain but everything finally came together - all 50 states in a light sport aircraft fully compliant with Light Sport and Sport Pilot rules.  No modifications, no smoke and mirrors - just one determined man with a mission.

The final push to Hawaii was a matter of getting from Dallas, Texas to Sacramento, California, then from there, we loaded the plane up for transport to Hawaii.  Once in Hawaii, Hope One soared though the skies setting another world record - with the distinct honor of doing that as featured plane at the Kanoehe Bay Airshow.

We'll fill you in as we go but here's the latest press release to catch you up:

Combs to Complete 50 State Adventure in a Light Sport Aircraft

Hope One and Mike

September 17, 2012

Lake Dallas, TX -  Michael Combs set out several years ago to fly an aircraft into all fifty states.  At that time, he didn't have a pilot's license and began The Flight for the Human Spirit with nothing but a dream.  Since then he has flown his REMOS Light Sport Aircraft named "Hope One" into 49 states, has logged over 40,000 miles, and landed in over 200 airports.  His message of "It's never, EVER too late to follow your dreams has now reached over 28 million people around the world.

The elusive fiftieth state of Hawaii was a greater feat than Combs originally thought.  Since his mission was to fly an unmodified aircraft throughout his adventurous flight, he didn't have near enough fuel onboard to fly over the Pacific from the California coast.  The only option was to ship Hope One over and to fly into at least one airport on one of the islands.  "The goal of The Flight is to show what you can do when you believe strongly enough in your dreams and are not willing to give up," explained Combs.  "I was told many times before this journey began that I would discover why a flight like this has never been accomplished before, and have learned quite a bit along the way."

Combs will be performing at the Kaneohe Bay Air Show in Hawaii on the 29th and 30th of this month.  Hope One will be airlifted over to Hawaii along with other performing aircraft.  The current date of departure will be September 25th from Travis Air Force Base.

"We have a lot of fans around the world, and the comments of support have been amazing as word has spread of the upcoming success of this mission," explained Combs from his Corinth, TX office.  "There has been a tremendous amount of coordination from many parties to make this flight possible, the reward will be that we are all witnessing aviation history unfold."

Hope One will become the first Light Sport Aircraft to touch down in all fifty states, and Combs will become the first Sport Pilot to successfully fly the same aircraft into all fifty states.  He currently holds four world records from time over distance and miles logged.

Fans of The Flight will be able to follow Michael's westerly adventure including live Facebook and Twitter posts, along with satellite tracking from the cockpit of Hope One.  The take-off from US Aviation in Denton, TX to Sacramento, CA is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning September 18th and should take two to three days to complete.


 

Now that our mission is complete we move on to focus on even more world records - coast to coast, point to point and a few secret missions.  The most immediate focus is on a 2 day coast to coast record.  More information to come shortly.