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!

Looks like the news venues have realized that people are plain sick of bad news. Or maybe it’s because pups (and pilots :^) are particularly photogenic. Whatever the cause, Pilots N Paws continues to garner positive press from the network news stations to local newspapers. It couldn’t have happened to a better organization.

News highlights:

• Pilots N Paws helps reunite a soldier with the pup he adopted from Afghanistan. (ABC News)

• “Making a Difference” (NBC Nightly News)

• A Paw and a Prayer: Pilots Save Shelter Animals.  (MSNBC)

• Unwanted Pets Get Second Chance (Good Morning America)

• Volunteers Pilot Dogs to New Homes (WRAL)

• Wally the Flying Dog (Kentucky Living)

• Dogs Prayers Answered by People with Wings (Newsobserver.com)

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!

My dog Cosmo has nearly as many flight hours as I do. Here are a few cool (and not-so-cool) products I have found over the years for pilots who like to fly with their pets. Please comment if you have more recommendations!

Mutt Muffs - honestly, these are more cute than they are functional. I bought a set long ago, and it was fun to put them on Cosmo for his walk through the FBO (lots of “aaaaws”), but realistically he just wouldn’t abide with wearing them on a three-hour flight. (Cosmo is nearly 100% deaf now, which I suppose could be attributed to his time in the cockpit. I now wish I had pressed the issue with him!).

Poor Woody.

“Homemade” Mutt Muffs –  John Kounis of Pilot Getaways magazine has fashioned his own version of Mutt Muffs out of knee pads, foam, and Velcro for his dog Woody. The photo really says it all. (More photos of Woody by Jessica Ambats can be found here: http://bit.ly/eTrgN).

Dogs need O2, too!

Oxygen Hood for Dogs (by 4Paws) – I ran into this at this year’s Airventure in Oshkosh. Great idea, I guess… I wonder how many they have sold?

Dog blanket – you gotta have this to protect the seat from accidents (and drool.) Here’s a cute one from Oh My Dog Supplies.

Good dog!

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.