It was a good day today!

petehowell · #1 04-18-2009, 10:37 PM

It has been an interesting and fun couple of days. As I was walking in to work at 7am Friday, I received a call on my cell phone from a lady in Ohio. She introduced herself and said she needed some help. There were two Boxers in North Carolina that had just been rescued from a raided puppy mill operation. They were in very rough shape and were in danger of being put down. The Minnesota Boxer rescue group had located homes for them here in the Cities, but they had no way to get them from NC to MN. Well, they had a partial solution - some great guys from an organization called Pilots and Paws could get them from NC to Dayton in 2 hops, but they were stuck getting the pups from Dayton to Minne.

I got into work and checked the WX and it actually looked pretty good. Great on the way down, just OK on the way back.

I moved some afternoon meetings, grabbed some clothes and a sandwich and hit ANE about 3:30. - I topped off the tanks, picked up flight following and headed to Greensburg, IN to RON with by brother and his family. Trip down was great! Up to 9500 and a bit of a tailwind:

Nice little airport in Greensburg - there were four of us in the pattern at sunset. Met some nice locals at the gas pump.

"little" brother Chris is an Indiana State Trooper - I'm glad he forgot how I treated him years ago.....

Saturday morning - I hung out with the niece and nephews for a bit and then it was off to Dayton to get the pups. A short 60 mile hop, and I was there.

Maverick and Fawn started the day with Jim in a Grumman:

Transferred in Charleston, WV to a Cessna under the command of Ron...

I got to meet the pups at Dayton Wright Brothers - it was sad to see how thin and neglected they were, yet they were very friendly.

They took a potty break, I gave them some vet approved benadryl, and then it then was time to head out. Ron (orange hat) helped me load the dogs - Maverick immediately took charge up front while Fawn snuggled up in the back. I had the right seat removed and cushions on the floor.

Continued......

Here is a link to all the pix:

NOTE - Not all the pics are mine, we all pooled our pics and gave permission to use them

kevinh · #2 04-18-2009, 10:50 PM

super cool

petehowell · #3 04-18-2009, 10:52 PM

After a shaky start (we had a little puking by Mav) they settled right down went to sleep. We headed for Joliet to turn the corner at Lake Michigan. Visibility was bad, but the air was smooth. No head wind meant we made pretty good time. Maybe the shoes made him puke???

Ahh, first class in an RV.....

The trip went great until just north of Rockford - vis went to poop and the rain came - I headed for clearer WX and circled near Freeport to talk to Flight Service - they gave me suggestions to head for DBQ and then north to Minne - that worked like a charm. XMWX only worked very sporadically today, and I really could have used it!

It was funny that my mom called as soon as I landed and wanted the complete rundown as to what had happened at Freeport - she was watching throughout the day on APRS.....

Hard not to want to help these dogs......

I got to see my relatives and help some dogs thru the magic of the garage-built contraption - how fun is that?

DakotaHawk · #4 04-19-2009, 01:53 AM

What an awesome story! I've wondered how dogs react to flying. Seems like these mutts didn't seem to care at all (mostly).

Gives a whole new meaning when you say "vis went to poop". Which dog did you name "vis"?

pierre smith · #5 04-19-2009, 05:16 AM

....and thanks so much for sharing....yes, it must have been a good day!

Thanks,

BlackRV7 · #6 04-19-2009, 06:31 AM

Absolutely fantastic, thanks for sharing.

David-aviator · #7 04-19-2009, 07:12 AM

When I first scanned "...went to poop..." posted under the back seat dog, I though you are a saint. But on further perusal, it was the vis that went to poop, not the dog.

Good report and great pictures....

BikePilot · #8 04-19-2009, 09:08 AM

Very cool! I'd be the one taking the benadryl if I were in that situation (alergic unfortunately - love dogs though).

engineerorange · #9 04-20-2009, 08:55 AM

I just happened to see 2 boxers get loaded from a boxer rescue vehicle into an airplane at Lincoln Co.,NC on Saturday morning as I preflighted for a cross country. Same dogs? If so the world of aviation is even smaller than I thought.

petehowell · #10 04-20-2009, 09:04 AM

Orange,

The pups came out out of Lincoln County at 7:30 am in a Grumman Traveller, transferred to a Skyhawk at Charleston, WV, and met up with me at Dayton Wright Brothers.

A small world, indeed!