‘Welcome to Hawaii’: Pilot celebrated after 17-hour Cessna flight from Merced

HONOLULU ( KSEE/KGPE ) – From Merced to Honolulu, Tom Lopes flew a Cessna 172 plane well past its average range of 700 miles – and landed to find a hearty Hawaiian welcoming party at the other end.

The total distance from Merced, California to Honolulu, Hawaii, is approximately 2,400 miles. On Aug. 6, Lopes flew the modified Cessna 172 to Honolulu so the plane could be used at George’s Aviation Services . The plane is now being on private charter tours, flight school instruction, and aircraft rentals.

Flying the 4-seat Cessna over, instead of shipping it over, means it landed in Honolulu “exactly how it came out of the factory,” according to Tom Lopes .

In Honolulu, the team at George’s Aviation Services understood how dangerous the flight was, knowing that there was no such thing as an emergency landing on the ocean.

To celebrate Lopes’ successful flight – and their new plane, the crew prepared a feast and welcoming party for Lopes. After he landed, Lopes was given a traditional Hawaiian lei, as was the plane, and a lūʻau.

“Welcome to Hawaii, Tom,” George said. “It was a beautiful flight.”

Following its 17-hour flight from Merced to Honolulu, data from FlightAware.com shows that the plane is now going on far shorter runs of three hours or less in the air, landing and taking off from Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

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