Two wee chihuahuas, Blaze and Katie, were found wandering around Texas, where they were captured and remained unclaimed. Euthanasia was imminent, but thanks to the efforts of Chris May of Annie’s Little Angels Small Breed Rescue, transportation to a foster home was coordinated through the Pilots N Paws network.

Walt and Joann Aronow flew our little Texans on their first leg from Denton, Texas to Rolla, Missouri.  Lance Corlis and I met them there in our Cirrus, and immediately fell in love (with the pups AND Walt’s awesome home-built). During the two-hour flight back to Chicago, Katie insisted on riding on my lap and really wouldn’t take no for an answer, while Blaze sulked in the back. These two were personality PLUS!

Back in Chicago, Chris May met us at Atlantic Aviation to collect the pups. It was so hard to say goodbye to these little cuties.

BLAZE AND KATIE ARE AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION. Please contact Chris May at 630-291-7299 for details.

Walt and Joanne unload the pups at Rolla National (VIH).

Pretty sure Walt wanted to keep Katie.

Potty break!

Me and Lance with the pups.

What he lacks in looks, he makes up for in personality.

Ready to fly!

Katie sits up front with me while Lance flies the plane.

Poor Blaze, alone in the back.

Tethered in and ready for landing.

Chris May of Annie's Little Angels.

I planned to blog about yesterday’s Pilots N Paws rescue flight of the dog Ranger, who traveled from Emporia, KS to his new home in St. Charles, IL. But why work like that when I can just link to the Chicago Tribune article, and instead just post the photos of his journey?

And here you have it, Ranger’s rescue:

Ranger at the shelter, waiting for a home.

Pilot #1, Sarah Owens had to drive the first leg due to weather.

Back in Chicago, readying the plane for our flight to EOK.

Slobber-proofing the back seat!

Turning final at EOK.

Here comes Pilot #2, Sam Taylor with the canine cargo!

Ranger and Pilot Sam.

Am I home yet?

Sam and Ranger. Look how Ranger poses.

Me, Sam, Ranger, and my SR22.

Ranger "attacks" me with kisses! Anne Marie accompanied me to help out.

Kisses for Anne Marie. All buckled in to the back seat.

Going home! Shedding all over Anne marie in the back seat.

Nap time lasted approximately 3 seconds.

Home at last! With new Mom Kelli Cameron.

Aw, how nice. Kelli brought flowers for the pilot!

I recently flew a rental plane up and down California, doing a “test run” of our California Wine & Dine aviation tour.  This trip was challenging, incredibly fun, and generally awesome. For those of you who have asked for more than 140-character Tweets, well, here’s the whole story:

Day 1: Chicago to San Francisco. So worried about missing my extra-early (commercial) flight that I got no sleep at all. So when I finally got to West Valley Flying Club in Palo Alto, I was sleepy and not fit to fly. I spent the day completing their written exam (which managed to require the use of every performance chart in the Archer POH) and going over my planned route with instructor Don Styles. I rescheduled the flying portion of my checkout for Day 2, then headed into San Francisco for a restaurant site visit (but I won’t bore you with the details of my hand cut pasta with himalayan truffles, asparagus, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and lobster cream.)

My sparkly Archer.

Day 2:  Palo Alto (PAO) to Fortuna (FOT).  After a good night’s sleep at quirky (in a good way) Hotel Monaco near Union Square, I headed back to PAO and completed my checkout flight with instructor Cory Burns. The flight went well, but I discovered it would probably take me some time to get used to the steam gauge panel. Oh, how quickly we become spoiled by the glass!

San Francisco to my right.

On my own, I was nervous about departing through SFO airspace — my first solo Class B transition!  But, ATC offered excellent and friendly service, and soon I was flying just west of the gorgeous San Francisco bay, where I hear they have a Golden Gate Bridge (it was — as usual — shrouded by clouds).  I then proceeded up the coast at 10,500 feet, accompanied by Flight Following.

I picked up a rental car in Fortuna and spent the afternoon driving through the Avenue of the Giants, where the towering redwoods blocked out all light and I got a “Land of the Lost” feeling (although, for once, I DID NOT actually get lost).

Lingering clouds at FOT.

Day 3 : Fortuna (FOT) to Harris Ranch (3O8) to Palm Springs (PSP) My takeoff was slightly delayed as I waited for the morning fog to clear from the runway, then the Archer made a labored climb to 11,500 feet. Even at that altitude, far above everything I worried about terrain avoidance. I am not used to flying around mountains!

The 30-ft wide runway at Harris Ranch.

I was pretty excited about the 30-foot-wide runway at Harris Ranch — so excited I came in high and fast. After a go ’round I managed to successfully set down on the center line, thanking my lucky stars  there wasn’t a crosswind.

Harris Ranch is all about beef, and I am a vegetarian. But I managed to find a delicious spinach salad with my name on it. I then met with a manager to go over an impressive array of menu options for our tour, then I was off again off for Palm Springs. To avoid the scariest of the mountains, I opted for a non-direct 3O8 > PMD> SOGGI > PSP routing. Along the way, I had the Mojave to my left and mountains to my right. Incredible!

Palm Springs is in a valley, which I entered at 11,500 feet and thus had to make a rapid — very rapid — descent to a pattern altitude of 1,500 feet. My ears didn’t like this at all. But that was the only discomfort I felt during my time in Palm Springs. I feel in love with its gorgeous setting and sundress-climate — and felt pampered in my wonderful room at the Colony Palms. A phenomenal meal at Copley’s was just the final touch… I was about to start looking at real estate listings!

Flying through the Banning Pass

Day 4 : Palm Springs (PSP) to Santa Barbara (SBA). After a fidgety 7-hour wait in Palm Springs for the clouds in Santa Barbara to clear, I embarked on one of the more exciting flights of my life. There was an unforgettable climb-out through the Banning Pass — mountains, on both sides…WOW. ATC was busy, and I was kept on my toes with frequent traffic reports and hand-offs. There was low visibility (due to smog) in the LA basin to contend with, and … did I mention the mountains?! They were a persistent presence to my right the whole way. Upon arrival to SBA (which I couldn’t spot to save my life), I was vectored WAY out over the ocean, where I presumed there to be many big sharks waiting for me should I screw up. Since I still couldn’t spot the runway due to haze and glare, the darling man in the tower vectored me right into place. I finally found the runway — two miles out on final approach. Now that’s excitement!

3 seconds earlier there was a whale in the frame...

Day 5: Santa Barbara. No flying. Instead I spent a wondrous day kayaking around the Channel Islands, where I saw dolphins, whales, seals, and sea lions. What a treat.

Day 6: Santa Barbara. Another no fly day, this time unintended. I couldn’t depart Santa Barbara due to low clouds, so I spent the day at Atlantic Aviation, getting work done, watching Hulu, and wishing once again I had that instrument rating.

Day 7: Santa Barbara (SBA) to Palo Alto (PAO) to Napa. Not to be deterred by clouds another day, I arranged for my West Valley instructor, Cory Banks, to travel to SBA commercially in order to fly back with me in the Archer. Despite his busy schedule, he found the time to save me, and we had a great lesson enroute to PAO, which included nearly an hour of actual instrument flying for me. I even flew my first real instrument approach, although the word “precision” would probably not apply.

From here, I left the airplane and picked up a rental car. This would allow me to save money and avoid further flight delays since an enormous storm was on its way to Northern California. I spent a whirlwind two days visiting an impressive array of wineries, restaurants, and hotels as I finalized the sites for our tour.

When I got SFO it was raining sideways and I was happy to leave the flying to the professionals. 4-1/2 hours home to Chicago on United, and California was but a memory.

Pilots N Paws is a group of pilots and animal rescue workers who coordinate their efforts to save animals from bad situations. I have been wanting to participate in a dog-rescue flight since I first learned of the organization at Airventure, and I finally got my big chance on September 27. Since I was vexed in my efforts to line up the rental plane for this flight, I enlisted the help of pilot Rene Rivero and his Cessna 310.

Wally was found and fed by workers at Walmart.

There was plenty of room in Rene’s twin-engine gas guzzler for several dogs, but we picked up just one deserving pup: Wally, a “boxer mix” (euphemism for “mutt,” by the way).  Wally was found abandoned at a Louisville Walmart (hence his name), where he was cared for by employees there. A new home in Minnesota was found, and rescue workers on the ground proceeded to coordinate three pilots, plus transport on either end, to get Wally to his new home. An amazing amount of work went into this, especially by coordinator Cheryl Anderson in Minneapolis. The pilots have the easy (and fun) part of the job, frankly.

Ready for departure: Rene, Anne Marie, and Charlene with Wally

Rene, Anne Marie (Aviation Vacations’ tour planner, along for the ride) and I  killed time in Gary — think smokestacks, chain link, and Dairy Queen — until it was time to meet Wally. When he finally arrived from Louisville in Jay Wetzel’s Cessna 210, I was happy to see a friendly and happy dog… even if he did have a tendency to drool excessively when he was nervous (upon landing, for example). He was the perfect passenger and seemed to enjoy his “first class” accommodations in the back of the 310.

Wally and James in Middleton

After a quick and easy flight to Middleton (near Madison), we left Wally with pilot James Blystone for the last leg to Anoka, MN. As they taxied off, Wally peeked out the side window and did his best to look cute… and succeeded admirably. I later learned the flight went well, and Wally is now safe and happy in his new home. If I do more Pilots N Paws missions (and I will, for sure), I may end up with a houseful of “Wallies” myself!

Bye bye!

We’ve added a new aviation tour to the line up: California Wine & Dine. This May 2010 excursion will cover the coast of California and offers guests a taste of all things California, from the wineries in Napa, to the Redwoods of the north, to the spas of Palm Springs.

I will be test flying this route  in October. That entails visiting various properties, tasting delicious food and wine, and also nailing down the overall logistics of the many flight legs. Yes, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it!

Yesterday morning at the Red Lodge, MT airport (RED) I sat nervously at the end of the 4,000 foot runway. The plane was near gross weight and the density altitude was 6400 feet. The POH said 2300 feet would suffice for the takeoff, but, still, I was… concerned. This altitude thing is new for me.

Sure enough, when I applied full power, the Archer barely seemed to register the increase, then oh-so-slowly lumbered down the runway in what would be the longest take off roll of my life.  My legs started to shake as I got closer and closer to the end of the runway (and the mountain just beyond that)! Did the POH lie? Should I abort? Did I read the table wrong?

Finally, the Archer lifted off in what seemed like the nick of time and we began our creaky climb (about 200 ft/min I think!), making a left turnout and avoiding that aforementioned mountain with plenty of room to spare. Whew! THAT was unnerving.

The rest of the flight to Chicago’s PWK was better, and shorter, than expected. Steve found the winds aloft information on the Avidyne and pointed out the 30+knot tailwind that could be ours at 9500 feet. So, up we went and sure enough, the strong wind blew us home a day early! (We had planned to make an overnight, but there was no need with a 160 kts groundspeed).

Eat your heart out!

We had to make one last fuel stop about 50 miles from home, in Janesville, Wisconsin (JVL). While we were there, a pet rescue flight arrived with a sweet chihuahua and her three chihuahua-ish puppies. They were scheduled to be put down in Alabama, but were rescued when three pilots in three states (each flying one leg) agreed to fly them to Wisconsin, where a lady was waiting to take them to their new homes. That made me feel good about humans in general, and pilots in particular.

Rescued pups.

The Archer was filled just to the tabs, and practically leaped from the runway upon takeoff. That’s more like it! PWK was quiet and soon we were cleared to land on 34. The trip is over.

TRIP STATS: 1890 nautical miles, 17.9 hours (Hobbs). 85% fun and 15% fear. Number of things learned about flying: immeasurable.

Today’s leg from Spearfish, SD to Red Lodge, MT was only 250 NM, so Steve and I took our time leaving the hotel in the morning. On the way to the airport, I got a weather briefing and the briefer was quite surprised to hear that Red Lodge had an airport. He could provide no weather data for RED (no ATIS, no AWOS, no nothing), but expounded at length about the great ski trips he has made to the area.

So I called the airport directly, and was informed that three clicks of the mic in the general vicinity of the airport would give me a wind and altimeter report. The airport lady also told me it was a beautiful day, but to be careful with the winds, which can be unpredictable so close to mountains. Oh dear. Yes, I will be careful, I said. I mentally planned to divert to Billings if the winds were too challenging for either me or the Archer.

At SPF, the windsock was extended straight out, but at least the wind was right down the runway. During preflight, I couldn’t shake my nervous feeling. The Bighorn Mountains were in between me and my final destination, and even though I planned to circumvent them completely… still! Mountains!

The Billings sectional. Gulp.

We departed SPF into a beautiful valley, which I followed around the nearby mini mountains. I climbed to 8500 (overly paranoid, but better too high than too low!) and Steve spotted Devil’s Tower in the distance. I headed that way and Steve suggested that a lower altitude might be better for sightseeing. FINE. Back down to 6500. The scenery was beautiful and we got some pretty good shots. Then I climbed back to 8500.

Devils Tower.

It was a very bumpy ride across eastern Montana. We admired the gorgeous snow capped peaks from afar, as I circled the whole range to the north, flying just south of Billings. I frequently listened to the wind report, which was dramatically different each time I called, but never outside my comfort zone.

Eight miles out I finally spotted the airport (field elevation: 5800 ft), looking so pretty, but … so narrow (4000 x 75)! My palms were damp as I entered the base leg for runway 16.  The winds were 100 @ 9, gusting 14 — I can do this. I glanced frequently at the wind sock dancing to the left of the runway. Adjust for crosswind. More right rudder. More left aileron. Bolt upright in my seat. Steve having a photoshoot next to me. Cosmo dancing in the back, all of a sudden needing a bathroom break. Holding at 76 kts all the way down… over the center line… the flare… the touch down! Gentle, perfect, glorious landing!

Joy.

Left base for 34, Red Lodge.

This morning at Chicago Executive (PWK)  I loaded up the Archer with one (1) husband, one (1) small dog, forty-eight (48) gallons of fuel, and about ninety (90) pounds of luggage — all of which put us within about (5) five pounds of gross weight! I used the handy Excel W&B spreadsheet provided by the aircraft’s owner, Steve Rogers, to plan the placement of the luggage, so although we were heavy we were at least well balanced. Thank you, Steve!

Our destination today would be Spearfish, SD, on the way to Red Lodge, MT. I was excited beyond words to undertake this huge journey — my longest trip as PIC by a long shot. Total distance: 944 NM, although today’s plan was to fly “only” 713 NM.

“Archer heavy” did not exactly spring from the runway, but rather lumbered along a good portion of it before a sluggish climb out to 4500 feet. The first leg, 400NM to Sioux Falls, SD (FSD), was remarkable only in its flatness and absence of any interesting landmarks whatsoever. Steve and Cosmo slept, while I entertained myself with frequent, obsessive checks of the engine gauges and sectional chart. Every time I thought that surely Flight Following had forgotten about me, they would announce my next station and I would check in accordingly. I got friendly and efficient service the whole way, as usual.

In Sioux Falls, Landmark Aviation literally rolled out the red carpet for our arrival. The FBO was well equipped with nice bathrooms (critical at that point!), vending machine food, treats for Cosmo, and free popcorn. What more can one ask for?

The next 310NM leg to Spearfish, SD (SPF) was everything one hopes for in a flight. I planned the flight for 6500 ft, but found myself too close to the scattered cloud base at that altitude, so up we went to 8,500, and then up again to 10,500 using the heading bug on the autopilot to dodge the puffy (and tall!) cumulus during the painfully slow but beautifully surreal climb. The difference between the Cirrus SR22 (315hp) and the Archer (180hp) is most apparent when climbing at this altitude. Chug… chug… chug. Steve was a ball of stress (he prefers to fly close to the ground no matter how often I tell him that “altitude is the pilot’s friend”) and I certainly kept a close eye on the airspeed indicator, which wavered at about 80 kts, which feels like an unhealthy speed to me anywhere except climb out and final approach.

When we got to the distinctive Badlands area, I descended to 4500 (about 1000 AGL) to give us a better look at the moon-like topography, doing turns around a point when we found something particularly interesting. It was absolutely gorgeous.

This plateau is shaped like the US!

The next highlight was flying by Mount Rushmore, which was easy to pick out not because of the large faces in the mountain, but due to the extremely large and shiny parking lot near its base. I later learned I could have called Ellsworth Air Force base for vectors right past  the monument. That would have been cool. Instead I played it safe by flying well above the monument at 8,500.  I did some circles and took pictures, then I worried about possibly breaking some unpublished or unknown rules, so we headed north to Spearfish, where the  winds were picking up at 090 @ 16, gusting to 20. I planned for runway 13.

This was an interesting (and educational!) landing. At higher altitudes (this was just 3,900 but enough to make a difference), the approach feels extremely fast (and it is from a ground speed perspective), yet I was actually on the slow side (from a TAS perspective). I came in a little slow and a little low, but managed to set down gently just past the numbers, if a little (OK, a lot) flat. The stall horn sounded a few more feet off the ground than I am generally comfortable with. With those winds, I was frankly just happy to be on the ground safely!

We were exhausted but determined to do “some vacation stuff” so we took the pimping airport courtesy car to Deadwood, where we saw a few cowboys and Steve ate a lot of meat (including Rocky Mountain “Oysters”) for dinner.

Deadwood, SD.

Early to bed, for tomorrow is another day of aviation adventure!