Trust = Warm Fuzzies

I’m a relative newbie to Pilots N Paws. 

I’ve just completed my second rescue mission. The word that comes to mind most often when I think about my missions is TRUST. Rescuers trusting pilots to show up where and when we say we will and to fly safely. Pilots trusting rescuers that the dogs are the size, health and temperament that was given on the mission request. And in my two cases, pilots trusting one another to show up at the midpoint airport to hand off the precious cargo.

The most amazing display of trust comes from the dogs. Each and every one of the dogs I’ve flown has been sweet and trusting. Quite frankly, I put them in a plastic box, load them into a big, loud, smelly space, and there they stay for the next couple of hours. When they arrive at the destination, they may be thirsty and hungry, but they’re still as happy as can be. They meet the rescuers – complete strangers – with kisses and tail wags. They really do sense that we are helping them. This is why each and every one us plays our part.

And about those missions…

My first was written up in a prior blog post by Wade Roberts, who played the crucial role of mission coordinator for this complicated mission. On June 14^th three pilots and their copilots flew 850 nm visiting five airports. I personally flew 12 dogs that day in my Cessna 182 N821WW with copilot Autumn, who is a 16-year old student pilot and surely a future PnP pilot.

My second mission was on August 25^th. My husband Jason & I flew “double whiskey” to Perryton, TX to meet up with Theresa Krafcheck in her Debonair N9520Q. Our canine passengers were three tiny 5-week old puppies I call The Baby Girls (below), a 4-month old husky mix named Hailey (left photo, bottom left), and Rusty, a super sweet 4-year old red border collie (left photo, top.) We enjoyed a clear and calm flight back home to Centennial, CO where Rusty and The Baby Girls were met by volunteers from Mountain Pet Rescue, and Hailey was met by her adopter Rob.

All this was made possible by San Antonio pilot Denise Pride. I met Denise at a meeting of the 99s in San Antonio in May. After she shared her passion for Pilots N Paws during a presentation, I told her I wanted to get involved and she helped me make the first steps.

Already in only two missions, 17 great dogs have left their paw prints on my heart. I look forward to meeting even more wonderful people and dogs.

More on the Adventure Flight

I'm still on a total high from the ferry flight from Oklahoma to California. All four of us had an amazing time and shared some pretty awesome experiences.

So, why did we do this? My friend Dan Dyer recently opened a new flying club/school called San Carlos Flight Center and these three planes are a part of his fleet. They needed to be picked up from Tulsa and moved to their new home in San Carlos, and Dan loves group flying outings as much as I do. None of us needed convincing to drop everything for three days and fly airplanes.

Looking through photos, I found a few more that struck my interest for various reasons. This one was taken by Dan in El Paso as Marc and I were doing the pre-flight inspections. One of the more important and less glamorous parts of flying. We're sampling fuel, which we all did three times a day - once after each refueling. Checking for fuel quality, quantity, type (100 low-lead, not jet fuel), and making sure those fuel caps are on tight.



Jonathan was our most reliable photographer on the trip, and this was a familiar sight. Makes me think of the Jack Johnson song lyric, "pictures of people, taking pictures of people..."

Endless flight planning... we couldn't just eat our breakfast, we broke out the iPads and finalized the plans for the next route. Weather was changing rapidly and we had to continue making adjustments.

Frequent phone calls home to check in that we just landed/were taking off/would check in again later. You can never have too many people know where you are, where you're going, and your route to get there.

Who's flying what plane this leg? I don't care. What do you want to fly? I don't care. How about you? Oh just pick one.

What trip to Tucson would be complete without a flyover of the airplane graveyard and corresponding photo? Check!

Adventure Flight Day Four: the final stretch

Good news: we made it back to San Carlos safely.

Bad news: no pictures. Why not? Some of the worst turbulence I've flown in. Okay, not "some of" the worst but THE worst. No taking your hands of the yoke or attention away from flying today.

We departed Palm Springs with moderate winds. The plan was to fly east through the Banning Pass and into the Los Angeles basin. But standing on the ground and looking toward the pass, we couldn't tell whether the entire pass was socked in with clouds or just a portion. So we launched, climbed a little for a better look, and determined that there was plenty of clear space to fly through. But with the strong winds, we knew the ride would be unpleasant. Staying low kept the headwinds to a minimum and we popped out a few minutes later.

Flying up the coast was the best bet for clouds and turbulence. Passing by Santa Barbara airport, we saw on the ground and heard on the radio a pilot who blew a tire upon landing and was sitting disabled on the runway. That's a good way to ruin your Sunday. And a good reminder of why we land coordinated.

From there we flew to Camarillo (KCMA) for a fuel and food stop. Incredibly, the weather at the time of landing was winds calm - a welcome change from the 1.5 hours of being beat up. But an hour later the winds picked up to a whopping 24 knots when we were ready to depart. Even though winds were strong, the ride was tolerable.

A quick fuel stop in Paso Robles, and we were on our way again flying the final leg to San Carlos (KSQL.) That airport almost always has a little tumbler wind on short final, and today was no exception. But we are all used to it and were practically giddy as we parked the new additions to the fleet of the San Carlos Flight Center in their tiedown spots.

Three days, three planes, four pilots 18.1 flight hours, several good stories and countless bad jokes. I can't describe how amazing it feels to have done this.

But I will close with my favorite personal moment of the day - use your mind's movie screen for this one... cruising along above a broken layer of puffy clouds, descending gently between a couple, looking over and wanting to reach out the window and drag my hand through the edge just to see what would happen.

Adventure Flight Day Three: Texas to Southern California

Today we operated as a "flight of three" which was geeky pilot fun! That meant we flew close together, the lead plane communicates with ATC and uses the unique squawk code, while the other two listen, follow suit and turn the transponders to standby. One clearance covers all three of us - so if you're plane #2 or #3 you feel like you're taking off or landing without clearance. This first photo was taken by Jonathan while Dan flew, with me on the left and Marc just off my right wing. It feels SO much closer when it's happening!

I started the day as plane #3, with the C152 "bumblebee" wedged in as #2 so it wouldn't get lost (no GPS) or left behind. We flew from El Paso, TX to Ryan Field in Tucson, AZ which took 3.2 hours. El Paso handled the flight of three, no problem but I think we gave the Ryan controllers something to talk about at dinner. "A flight of three? You're three planes? Flying together?" So here's my view for the first 3.2 hours today. It was a smooth and very enjoyable flight, with clear skies and no wind. Perfect.

After a surprisingly good breakfast, we fueled the planes, I hopped in the C152 Bumblebee and we all  launched again. Today's experience was very different from yesterday's, I was actually able to trim it out and hold both heading and altitude. Plus I didn't get queasy looking down at the iPad and back up out the window again. 2.2 hours after crossing some outer space-looking landscape, we land just across the California border at Blythe. Winds had picked up by this point

We had hoped to make to Lancaster or San Diego, but everywhere we looked it was either super windy/gusty or low clouds/IFR or both. We spent the better part of an hour flight planning in the airport office, then decided the best bet was to head for Palm Springs, take a deep breath and fight the winds to get the planes on the ground. I rode right seat with Jonathan this time in plane #1. We stayed low and followed Hwy 10 into Palm Springs. Jonathan nailed the landing and braced for the taxi, giving everything he had to keep the plane from being spun around by the winds. The others arrived and we called it a day.

We hope the weather improves tomorrow so we can make up to San Carlos in two segments.

Adventure Flight Day Two: Oklahoma to Texas

 
7:00am came pretty early this morning, but we needed to get paperwork filled out, inspections completed and try to launch as early as possible to take advantage of calmer winds. We arrived at Christensen Aviation just as the sun was rising and got to work.

 
After thorough pre-flight inspections of all three planes, we were ready to launch! Our first leg would take us about 250 nautical miles and 2 1/2 hours to Wilbarger County Airport in Vernon, Texas. I flew the first leg in the C172 with the Garmin1000 glass cockpit system - the cream of our crop. We took the crew car (looked like a police car) into town, got a sandwich, then back in the planes to head to Midland, Texas.

This was the leg we all talked about at dinner. The updrafts and downdrafts were severe and relentless. We all fought them, plus headwinds, for 2 1/2 hours. Did I mention I flew this leg in the C152? Lower horsepower plus lighter weight meant enhanced turbulence. Sheesh. Oh, and it's a 1978 model which means no GPS.I managed to snap one photo before realize the need for intense focus.


We pressed on toward El Paso, planning to land about sunset. This time I'm back in the C172 G1000 and I welcomed the super deluxe autopilot that holds both heading and altitude. Nice luxury at the end of a long flying day. Smoother air was a plus too. I crossed the last ridge into El Paso just as the sun dipped below the mountains. Perfect.

All in all I flew 7.4 hours today and I'm wiped out. Tomorrow we get up and do it all again. The weather and our energy will determine how far we make it. I feel so lucky and happy to be making this trip!

Adventure Flight Day One: Colorado to Oklahoma

The four of us pilots met up here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The others (Dan, Marc and Jonathan) flew in commercial from San Francisco. I flew with Jason so he could share in the adventure. I let him fly the whole way here since I'd be flying plenty over the next few days.


We departed Centennial, CO (KAPA) in clear skies and light winds. Jason filed an instrument flight plan, expecting storms as we crossed over into Kansas.









The first two hours were uneventful, cruising along at 11,000 feet. I like spotting unusual shapes in the scenery. This one looks like chaos among extreme order.









As expected, we found a couple of active thunder storms near Wichita, KS. They both looked pretty angry, but there was about a 100 mile path between them which allowed us to fly through in visual conditions.

Once we passed beyond the storm front, our destination, Richard Lloyd Jones, Jr. airport (KRVS) was less than an hour away. We descended and landed in beautiful calm weather. Jason refueled himself and the airplane, then took back off to head home while I went to the hotel to meet the others.

After some food and flight planning, it's time to get some sleep for tomorrow. Dan will sign the final paperwork so we can take the planes and launch the next step of the adventure! Stay tuned...

A flying adventure of a different sort

I'm about to set off on a flying adventure that's completely different than anything I've ever done - and I'm SUPER excited about it! I'm one of four pilots flying three planes from Tulsa, Oklahoma to San Carlos, California.

Why? Why not! Three planes need to get from here to there, and there's only one way to accomplish that. Fly 'em.

The direct route would cover six states, 1250 nautical miles, and about 12 flight hours.

But we'll be flying around the highest mountains for safety, covering five states, 1500 nautical miles and about 15 flight hours.







Stay tuned... it's about to get exciting around here...