Pink Helicopters and a Bird’s Butt View

I’ve always had a fixation for things that go. Cars, trains, planes, trucks, copters…things that can get me from here to–well, from here to anywhere, have always held my interest.

The only exception is boats, since I always loathed being at sea and they crawl along at such slow speeds that the sensation of movement is too faint for my hot blood. I’ve crossed the Pacific a number of times at 11 mph, and I’d rather swim. Boats may be “transportation,” but they’re usually not “movement.”

In the things that go category, Saipan sure has some constraints. I’m a loyal disciple of the great American road trip, which, of course, isn’t an option here. A drive from As Lito to Coffee Care does not qualify as a road trip. The only way to scratch the itch for movement, then, is to find a machine that flies.

Thankfully, we’ve got plenty of machines that fit the bill on this count, and there are plenty of places to fly to. Tinian, Rota, and Guam have airports, of course, and even Pagan island has a grass landing strip.

Well, make that half a grass landing strip, since the volcano buried part of it. But it’s still perfectly usable if you’ve got the right kind of aircraft. If I was a millionaire I’d convert an airplane into a camper and spend my weekends up there. A DeHavilland “Twin Otter” airplane would do nicely for that gig, it would be the ultimate flying motor home, but even a beat up old used one costs about a cool million and then I wouldn’t be a millionaire any longer.

Even humble old Goat Island had something of a landing strip, though from all evidence it has long since been reclaimed by the unstoppable march of tropical foliage.

But who needs a runway at all? Scratch the Twin Otter idea, why not use a chopper?

An old Sikorsky S-58 helicopter would really be the ticket. I could vacation in Anatahan or just about anywhere else that suited my fancy. I’m sure that somewhere in the world, some rich eccentric is cranking around the back country in a converted S-58 helicopter camper. These monster helicopters can be retro-fitted with jet “turbo-shaft” engines and I’ve seen a few such conversions grinding along in the California skies. Alas, none of them appeared to be campers, but one was painted bright pink, which shows that some creative ideas are floating around.

I’m not the only one who thinks the concept of flying around these islands is cool. A lot of Japanese aviation enthusiasts travel to Saipan or Guam just for the sake of puttering around the skies in small, four seat aircraft. I know an American guy who lives in Japan who comes down for flying lessons once a year or so. It’s something no mortal can afford to do in Japan, which is fiercely over regulated in this realm. And, affordability issues aside, where better to fly than these beautiful islands?

If you’ve never taken a spin around one of the islands in a small aircraft, you’re missing a very rare sight. I’ve seen a lot of the world from a bird’s butt perspective, and the CNMI tops the list for scenery. With the economy in such lousy shape, it’s time to enjoy the scenery a bit more– what else can we do?