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Despite what Dave Barry says, the apostrophe does not mean “Look out! Here comes an ‘s’!”
Despite what Dave Barry says, the apostrophe does not mean “Look out! Here comes an ‘s’!”
That’s actually the correct way to write O’ahu. When writing Hawaiian language words, the apostrophe is called an okina, and indicates a guttural stop when speaking. So the proper pronunciation of a word like O’ahu is aided by the presence of the okina (apostrophe.)
As a former Hawai’i resident (yes, there’s supposed to be a guttural stop in that word, too) I do appreciate AvWeb respecting the language and the local culture and trying to get it right, despite the snarky comments to the contrary.
2 replies
When I wrote the story, I decided to use the okina because of the Mokulēʻia reference. It seemed to be more consistent that way. Originally, the story has an apostrophe instead of the okina. Fixed it later. Took awhile to find the character map.
On our honeymoon, nearly 40 years ago, my wife and I enjoyed a glider ride at Dillingham. We still talk about that ride. Keep it open. Keep making memories.
OK, thanks.
I do miss the “edit” option in this blog package.
Paul, thanks for the article (and for getting the names right!). I lived on O’ahu for about 13 years, and got all my ratings there through CFII (long extinct). I did many an inept bounce and recover at Dillingham, but the best memory there was getting my commercial (!) glider certificate and flying over those gorgeous mountains and coastline. Whenever the trade winds blew there was always ridge lift, and when they were strong we could catch mountain wave up to at least 10,000 feet. The strip gets relatively little use by a rather small number of people, but I sure hope they don’t rip it out.
Folks should read the HDOTA statement to gain perspective (see https://hidot.hawaii.gov/airports/hdota-to-transfer-dillingham-airfield-back-to-the-u-s-army/). Dillingham is a US Army-owned airfield and Army operations have absolute priority, which I understand, though these operations may not have a significant adverse impact on GA, glider, and skydiving activities. The HDOTA has been operating under a 5-year lease agreements since 2014 that make major investments in hangars and other infrastructure impractical. While HDOTA has tried to negotiate a 20+ year lease term that would make investment and loans more attractive and available, for unknown reasons the Army has declined. The upshot is the state is spending $1M per year under unfavorable lease terms and wants better lease terms from the Army to continue, which seems reasonable to me. (I wonder how much the US Army is spending each year on maintaining Dillingham infrastructure. Zero?)