Alright, you all probably know this, but I love dogs. Dogs of all kinds. Labs, Bassets, Weiners, Basenji's, etc. In fact, aside from my Shar Pei/Lab mix Bo, the Basenji and Shiba Inu are my two new favorites. BUT, that is not what I am writing about. I'm writing to tell you about my most recent flight in support of PilotsNPaws, a non-profit organization that helps dog, cat Wand all animal rescue organizations connect with pilots to move these dogs to safety. I've done three rescue flights, and this is about the third one. I'll give a summary first, and if you have the same attention span I do, then you can skip the commentary later on.
Route: KEYE -> KJVY -> KEYE -> HAI -> KEYE
Passengers:
KEYE - KJVY - KEYE - Annie
KJVY - KEYE - KHAI - Mason, Honey (Collie Mixes) and Rufus (Australian Shepherd)
KEYE - KHAI - KEYE - Bobby and Ann (not Annie)
Weather - Clear and beautiful. A little bumpy on the final legs.
Airplane: N146K a Cessna 172P
The Details:
I took off from KEYE with Annie. We headed out to the Shelbyville VOR to try to get away from the KIND Class Charlie Airspace and to avoid the MOA and restricted airspace near Camp Atterbury.
The flight down was uneventful. The FBO at JVY was nice and super friendly. They let Annie and I hang out while we waiting for Barb to bring the pups up from further south in Kentucky. She was unable to fly because of fog in the morning, but it cleared up by the time we departed.
We packed Honey and Mason in their own crates and put a harness on Rufus. They were all super sweet and barely cried at all when we were flying. We leveled off at 4500' after a 300 fpm climb. Annie was enjoying herself, which was awesome because I was nervous about her flying. Rufus was a sweet heart and just laid down in the back as soon as we leveled off.
We landed at KEYE uneventfully and let the dogs out to go to the bathroom. Annie decided she was done and I took Ann and Bobby up for the rest of the flight. We were about 100 lbs shy of the gross limit on the C172 with the 180HP engine, and I could tell it was a hot day. We were climbing pretty slowly.
The flight to KHAI was pretty nice. A little bumpy down at lower altitudes because the ground was heating up quite a bit. It wasn't terrible, and no where near what can be felt in late July on a partly cloudy day. We dropped off the pups with the rescue and wished them good bye. They had been great, probably my quietest transport so far. We made it back to KEYE without any issues monitoring KIND approach to hear who was coming in. I don't always get flight following, but I almost always listen to approach to see who else is around.
I've attached a few photos above, but here are some more. Those pups are darn cute.
Thanks to Barb, Ann, Bobby and Toni for the photos.
