Ron Lee
Well Known Member
I had hoped to go to LOE Saturday and pick up two Labs in Elk City on the way back. That fell through but I was told about two that needed transport from Lawrence Kansas. By the time I finally talked to the receiving end person, it was NINE Labs. Four 22-32 pound black Labs and the rest in the 10-15 pound range.
I got to Lawrence later than initially planned and it took longer to load. Finally that was done and I was getting ready to board and have the final Lab put on my lap when the larger black Lab to my right seemed to be growling at a tiny, shy yellow Lab. So we switched them (black Lab in the crate and the black Lab that would be on my lap) around. The two in that crate seemed to sleep the whole way back.
All went fine except that the growler threw up on me. I got them to KBJC (Denver area) and to the receiving end person. More later. I need to go play with my boy who was left alone all day.
On this mission, I noted that the woman in Lawrence had to babysit nine puppies for about two days. Perhaps more for two of them. That is amazing. Then I thought about the people who rescue the dogs, or find them homes and organize all the logistics of getting at risk dogs from point A to point B and finding homes for them.
All those folks are doing the hard work. I just transport by air. While I do enjoy it, I get to play a little with a lot of puppies and help in the process of getting them to a nice home, I came to realize that my role is minor.
As for the specifics, I am getting better although the hardest part still is knowing what size dog can fit in a crate. The weight and balance part is easy. Volume of puppies and allocation to crates is still a guess.
Today I had two of the smaller black Labs in my large crate in the baggage area. Then two small ones in a smaller crate on top of it. A largish crate in the passenger area (seat removed) held one larger black Lab and one small one and a medium crate on top of it held the last two small yellow Labs.
I heard that this was the smallest plane this group had used. In our defense, I will note that I got nine pups closer to a home. I went about 450 nm each way in three hours each way (OK, maybe a few minutes longer going west over Denver).
A 182 with all seats removed could haul more. But not as fast which means that it might not happen.
So while I am limited in size/weight of the pups I take, the RV does well enough.
I got to Lawrence later than initially planned and it took longer to load. Finally that was done and I was getting ready to board and have the final Lab put on my lap when the larger black Lab to my right seemed to be growling at a tiny, shy yellow Lab. So we switched them (black Lab in the crate and the black Lab that would be on my lap) around. The two in that crate seemed to sleep the whole way back.
All went fine except that the growler threw up on me. I got them to KBJC (Denver area) and to the receiving end person. More later. I need to go play with my boy who was left alone all day.
On this mission, I noted that the woman in Lawrence had to babysit nine puppies for about two days. Perhaps more for two of them. That is amazing. Then I thought about the people who rescue the dogs, or find them homes and organize all the logistics of getting at risk dogs from point A to point B and finding homes for them.
All those folks are doing the hard work. I just transport by air. While I do enjoy it, I get to play a little with a lot of puppies and help in the process of getting them to a nice home, I came to realize that my role is minor.
As for the specifics, I am getting better although the hardest part still is knowing what size dog can fit in a crate. The weight and balance part is easy. Volume of puppies and allocation to crates is still a guess.
Today I had two of the smaller black Labs in my large crate in the baggage area. Then two small ones in a smaller crate on top of it. A largish crate in the passenger area (seat removed) held one larger black Lab and one small one and a medium crate on top of it held the last two small yellow Labs.
I heard that this was the smallest plane this group had used. In our defense, I will note that I got nine pups closer to a home. I went about 450 nm each way in three hours each way (OK, maybe a few minutes longer going west over Denver).
A 182 with all seats removed could haul more. But not as fast which means that it might not happen.
So while I am limited in size/weight of the pups I take, the RV does well enough.
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