On Tuesday morning Briggs Wood took off from Kahului Airport in just about perfect weather to meet the goal he had set for himself. Wood, 78, a retired contractor and private pilot, decided he wanted to fly in all 50 states.

“Last year I was looking at all the places I’ve flown to. I thought, gee, I don’t have that many to go,” Wood said. “I added it up and I had 19 states left.”

That seemed like enough of a reason to do it, so Wood started planning. He realized he could knock off a bunch of states from his list if he started out on the East Coast, so he had his small plane shipped from California, where he lives, to Boston and planned out a route that would have him land in 14 states in three days.

“Boston, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,” said Wood, ticking off the route by memory. “New Jersey down to Delaware, over to Maryland … .”

That first day, he landed in seven states. At each airport he got out of his plane and took a photo.

“I usually take a picture of myself with the airplane, and I try to find a sign somewhere in the airport with the name of the place on it.”

He often flies solo in his Carbon Cub, which he describes as a remake of the old Piper Cub airplanes. During that 14-state trip, though, he took a buddy with him. “That plane only goes 100 miles an hour,” he said. “It can get boring up there.”

Wood, originally from Oklahoma, fell in love with flying as a child. His father was a private pilot, and Wood started going up with his dad when he was 7 years old. It wasn’t until he was in his 30s and running his contracting business from its headquarters near San Francisco to job sites up and down the West Coast that he decided to become a pilot.

“It was an easy way to visit job sites,” Wood said. Besides, it was an excuse to fulfill a childhood goal and do something he loved.

At age 53 Wood took up aerobatic competition, the air-show type of precision flying that includes rolls, spins and breathtaking dives. Wood competed all over the country, achieved the top classification, managed the U.S. aerobatic team in international competition and, when he retired from the sport at age 63, was the oldest competing aerobatic pilot in the world.

As for his 50-state goal, Wood got in the rest of the states, including Alaska, two months ago. He saved Hawaii for last. He rented a plane here and took off from Kahului, landed on Molokai, went up again and flew over Lanai before returning to Maui, where his family and friends were waiting to congratulate him.

After all the time he’s spent in the air, this last flight over Maui, Molokai and Lanai was different. “The sea was like glass out there,” he said. “I’ve never seen scenery anywhere near as pretty as what I saw here in Hawaii.”

Now that this goal has been met, Wood is contemplating other challenges.

“My wife and I are avid golfers. We’ve golfed in about 20 states,” he said, as though he’s already hatching plans. “Though, of course, you can’t golf in seven states in a day.”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.