Barbers Point Flight School

I called Barbers Point Flight School a few months back to set up training to become a pilot – the owner never returned my call as he said he would, so I decided to use another school at HNL to get my cert.
Fast forward to this week, I decided to give it another go, this time as a renter – as I have come to the epic realization that I could potentially save .2 hours off each flight by flying out of Kalaeloa Airport vs HNL.
I wrote to through email, and was set up with one of their instructors to do a checkout flight, which is understandable due to insurance, etc. The Cessna 150 didn’t seem to be in bad shape. I didn’t get a chance to see the 172 due to maintenance.
After an uneventful checkout flight, I paid and left. Once I returned home, I scheduled my first solo flight via email because they do not allow access to Flight Schedule Pro, which I found odd, as every FBO/​school I’ve encountered in the past give their customers rights to the schedule on FSP. It just takes all the hassle out of it. Oh well, I was excited at this point adjust the prospect of saving some money by flying out of JRF/​PHJR instead of HNL.
Now this is where my experience started to go south. I showed up to the airport and wanted to confirm where the keys to the aircraft were stored. I could’ve figured it out on my own, but being the cautious new aviator that I am, not wanting to screw anything up, I called the number on the wall just to ask and make sure, since my checkout flight was done a week prior. A man identifying himself as «the owner» answered, sounding annoyed that I would dare to dial him with a question about his aircraft.
He then demanded to know whether I was checked out, at first I thought he meant checked out on FSP, which is a computer dispatch, but then I realized that he was actually referring to my flight with the instructor, to which I replied affirmative. He then questioned whether I had a logbook endorsement from the instructor, which confused me because I wasn’t aware of any special endorsements needed of a certificated pilot in class and category to fly a Cessna 150. He then went on a rant, giving me a lesson about how he has 10,000 hours in all kinds of equipment, etc. So after pacifying him by telling him that I’m not trying to get into a pissing match with him over qualifications, he then goes on to clarify that his insurance company needs it to keep his rates low, which I get, but perhaps this could’ve been laid out up front, maybe even posted on the website under «rental requirements’ to eliminate any ambiguity. Additionally, I would prefer not being talked to like his young son, even if I am a relatively new pilot.
Now if I was told all this beforehand during the paperwork shuffle we had during the checkout, I could’ve worked something out with him, but this phone tirade, plus the promise to call me back once everything got sorted out with his instructor (which by the way took 2 hours, I initially decided to just wait on the lanai of the flight school, but left after an hour of no call yet) after cemented my decision to stick with the school I learned to fly at in HNL for rentals.

Not all companies lately deserve a 5-​star rating. Barbers Point Flight School is one of those that does.
I purchased a groupon for a plane tour and made a reservation through the owner, Regi. On the day of our scheduled flight, we arrived to find out that it had to be cancelled due to radio equipment issues and we needed to reschedule. I was especially disappointed because the plane tour was a birthday gift for a member of our party.
I contacted Regi and his response to the matter was very prompt, courteous, and professional. He apologized for the inconvenience and accommodated us above and beyond our customer service expectations.
During the makeup flight our pilot, Sam, provided us with a smooth flight and friendly service. The views were great and we saw a different perspective for many familiar sights all around the island. I would definitely recommend this tour for both tourists and locals alike.
Thank you again Regi and Sam!

Been flying for a year with Sam. Scheduling flights has been easy. Instruction has been good and the planes have been in mostly working order. Couples times the skyhawk was out if service for awhile. The online instruction was ok. I used gleim also which seemed more in depth. I liked flying out of barbers point and felt comfortable there. However I did fly out of hnl once w another school and had no problems. I’m looking forward to certifying prob should have tested a long time ago but preferred some extra time and have been busy. All in all have Ben happy w my flying experiences at Bpfs
update: instructor leaving for mainland… did not give much advance notice. Unwiling to sign off after 50+hours flying so now i have to find a new instructor.

Sam took great care of my husband and other flight crew members on their recent R&R stop in the islands. He is professional, knowledgable, accommodating and very easy-​going. It was a incredibly memorable experience and highly recommend him and Barber’s Point Flight School.

My wife found this amazing company though some online deal they were running and booked it for our trip to Hawaii as one of the only things we actually scheduled for our trip and after that I didn’t think much about it until we pulled upto the small airport and I realized how awesome this is going to be!
We met Sam in the security check point/​lobby/​terminal/​gate (yes it was all of those) and walked out to the tarmac to the awaiting 4 seat plane. After a few selfies in front of it we were buckling up, putting on the headsets and on our way!
I got to sit shotgun and the plane even had a window which I had my arm out of (yes out of the plane!) constantly taking photos every possible second. We had the 30 minute flight and had scheduled it close to sunset which I would highly recommend. We flew over farms, mountains, neighborhoods and huge resorts.
The sightseeing was amazing and everything you would expect. The whole experience of being on a small plane, chatting it up with the pilot and getting to ask every question you want about the instruments and what they do is really the best part, but you might as well do that in paradise and see awesome things.
The plane is also for a flight school so if your sitting in front you have the a set of controls in front of you too that move just as the pilot moves. It’s so tempting to go back and take some classes!
You will have to have some adventurousness in you to do this as the small plane can still hit some turbulence and shake a bit. Perhaps it was my excitement or Sam’s professionalism but there wasn’t a second I was worried about our safety or anything the plane was doing.
If your looking for something to do, go and book the tour! I can’t wait until we go back to Hawaii again so we can do a longer tour. Sam said in the winter time you can see the huge wales in the North Shore from the tour which is now something I must do.
Thanks for the amazing flight Sam and thanks to my wife for booking this!!!

I went on a flight with Sam during my recent trip to Oahu for work. I was pretty queasy the whole time (and am usually car/​air/​sea sick and sensitive) but Sam was an awesome pilot and seriously made me feel comfortable because his knowledge of the island terrain, flight rules and safety considerations really stood out. He is a great pilot and I am sure a terrific instructor since he seems so comfortable behind the… wheel? stick? handle?
Anyways he is a super awesome pilot and I would recommend him to everyone. It was truly an experience of a lifetime, and my boyfriend could not stop talking about it! We got pictures that are officially worth a thousand words. ;)

Awesome and unique experience! My husband and I found the Groupon for a 75 minute flight tour and couldn’t pass it up. No regrets here! To start off, we were running late thanks to me having to stay late at work, but our pilot Sam was incredibly understanding and accommodating. We got up in the air and he gave us a rundown of what we could expect to see and the areas we would cover, he delivered that and more! We’ve lived here for 2 years already, so we’re pretty familiar with the majority of the island, but Sam was still able to point out some neat sights and places we haven’t noticed or seen before. Also, since our flight was right after the hurricane came by oahu, Sam had the challenge of navigating around low cloud coverage and trying to provide us with the best view possible, and he definitely succeeded! This was an amazing experience and we’re so glad we had Sam as our pilot! Would love to do this again!

Let me first start off by saying I was previously at another flight school and had some bad experiences. After those experiences, I was determined to find a school that would work for me. A family friend recommended Barbers Point Flight School. At that point I switched, I was very doubtful that I would be able to complete the necessary requirements to enroll in a higher level class at Embry-​Riddle, where I will be starting in a few weeks. Sam, my flight instructor, however, was very optimistic about the time restraints and successfully helped me in completing the required items for that course. The flight school is very open when it comes to scheduling flights and never posed a problem to get me in the air within a few days. It was also a lot easier to learn out of Class D airspace, rather than the congested Class B airspace of HNL, where training rates are also generally higher than Barbers Point Flight School (BPFS).
Sam was definitely a great instructor. He was very thorough in explaining, demonstrating, and fine tuning maneuvers that he wanted me to accomplish. I was told at the other flight school I was very far from soloing, however, I solo’d at BPFS in only eight flights. Sam was always there to answer questions or address any concerns I had when it came to flying. Definitely recommend!

My experience with Barbers Point Flight School began rocky and ended horribly.
$ 660 down the drain.
I can relate to Jill S with the same types of mismanagement issues only mine were over a longer period of time, proving that these incidents seem to be frequent.
For your sake, I sincerely hope you look into other flight schools/​tours on the island before you waste your money here.
To make a very long story short my instructor, Rodale, mismanaged his time, the flight school did not stick to its word to remedy the predicament and I was effectively screwed out of 660 dollars.
To preface this ordeal: I am in the Coast Guard. I purchased a 10 hour time block so that I could save money. (This was a mistake).
I received orders to move to California and decided I needed to let Rodale know I needed to finish up my hours so he would have plenty of notice. I attempted to contact Rodale via text (our usual method of communication), voicemail, and even tried him on facebook when I didn’t hear back from him after 2 weeks. Finally I called the flight school and the owner assured me I would be hearing back from him. Rodale texted me that he was sorry for the late response and that he had been very busy.
Obviously, he could have let me know what was going on instead of ignoring my attempts to contact him. And that’s only the beginning…
I told Rodale that I wanted to try to wrap up my block time hours. He told me that he was pretty busy and he would probably only be able to squeeze me in a couple of times that month. This was February. I asked him if he would be more free in March because I wanted to try to finish it all at a time and potentially wrap up my private license. I was only 8 hours away from the minimum at this point. He said that he would have plenty of time in March and promised to keep it open for me.
When I contacted him in March it was the same story about being busy and he asked if I minded switching instructors. I told him that I really didn’t want to switch instructors and if he couldn’t go up with me I would prefer a refund to which he replied that refunds were not accepted due to policy.
Switching instructors just ensures that you waste an hour with familiarization and the instructor feeling out where exactly the student is with their training — Not a great way to spend my limited time and money.
He said he would try to move some things around. We came up with a couple of dates and times to fly and agreed to make it happen.
The day I was scheduled to fly, he informed me just a few hours before our flight that the aircraft was grounded for scheduled maintenance.
If it was scheduled, I don’t see why he wouldn’t already know that our flight wouldn’t be possible. This led me to believe he was either lying or disorganized. From all my experience with this instructor I believe it was the latter.
Our next scheduled flight he told me the plane was still grounded. I told him I understood, but that there wasn’t a lot of time left and we needed to finish my time. He offered some times during my work hours so I had to decline. At this point I only had one week to finish up because I was departing the island at the end of March.
I called the Flight School and spoke with owner. He seemed very accommodating and understanding of my situation. He agreed to set me up with a cross-​country flight with Rodale to complete all of my remaining hours at once and that he would make it happen even if he had to postpone a few flights to fit me in.
The day of my flight Rodale texted me that I would be going on my flight with another instructor because he had to get another student ready for a check ride.
As you can imagine, I was pretty upset that I was being put off onto another instructor when I had specifically said I did not want to do that. I told him I was done being put off and that I was just going to eat the money and bring up his business practices with the VA office.
Rodale seems like a nice kid and I’m sure he is. I sincerely hope he learned a lesson from all of this about time-​management and sticking to his word.
That being said, the owner made a promise to me and money was exchanged. I gave them plenty of notice of my move. If they could not deliver on their agreement, then they are not running a customer-​oriented company.

I purchased a 30 minute tour on Groupon and we were so disappointed with this tour and they failed to provide all of the things promised. Unless you’ve always wanted to see Mililani or Schofield Barracks from the air, you probably would not like this tour.
Our flight was changed, canceled, and rescheduled several times for a period of five months before we finally got to go out. Our pilot was also changed four times adding to the confusion. As if that wasn’t frustrating enough, we arrived at the location a half hour early to find that everything was locked. It took me about 20 minutes to reach the pilot and someone else was kind enough to let us in and take us to the hanger. There really was a lack of communication and professionalism with this company to not have provided information to guests on what to do when they arrive.
Our pilot was very, very nice but seemed distracted and he did not follow through with several things that we were told: first, the groupon was for a 30 minute flight; we got 22 minutes. He told us that we were going to fly to the North Shore and we turned around at Wahiawa and didn’t even come close, then we circled a few times to kill time before taking us back. It was a sad tour and really lacking. We also were supposed to be provided with snacks/​drinks and a printed picture of our group. We received none of that… instead we felt rushed off so that our pilot could take out the next group since he was running late that day. Keep in mind that the pilot had asked us to come an hour earlier to accommodate a scheduling error that their business made.

I’ve been to Oahu several times but have always wanted to do an island flight tour around the island. So when I saw a 75 minute tour around the island for a deal I jumped on it. We met Sam, our pilot, at the tower. He then drove us down to the plane.
The flight around the island was awesome. I was able to pin point some beaches that looked calm, clear, and tourist free. He pointed out some areas of interest. Needless to say, I got some really cool pictures if the island.
Overall we had a great experience and would definitely do it again!
My guy left my glasses in the plane, so when I called to ask if they had them, Sam was so helpful. They left them for me at the tower to pick up (these were not cheap). So nice and accommodating.