NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Kaneohe-Bay line over Coconut Island Oahu was priority. The pilot flew the line twice. The first time, the K-Bay line had cirrus clouds; the second time there were no cirrus but had cumulus clouds. The pilot couldn’t see Coconut Island - covered with clouds. Line 42 over Molokai was 25% clouds at Moby buoy. Approaching Maui there was too much cloud cover. Decided to RTB. Got two good lines. The airplane is good. The instruments performed as expected with no issues. Tim almost had to divert the landing to Honolulu. Crosswinds got out of limits less than an hour before landing. Fortunately, the wind direction switched more directly down the runway to make a safe landing. It was “sporty” looking landing. Tim Williams was the pilot.