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!

I recently joined the 99s – an international organization of women pilots that was started back in 1929 — and last weekend I found myself at my first get-together with the group: the Chicago Area Chapter 61st Annual Air Meet. (Yes, you read that right: they’ve been doing this air meet for SIXTY-ONE years. Some of the ladies in the chapter are celebrating 50 years in the organization!)

It’s kind of pathetic to DRIVE to a fly-in (I couldn’t get a plane), but at least the roads were smooth sailing from Chicago to Dekalb.  When I got to the airport, several pilots were busy planning their flights for the air derby, a three-leg cross country trek that has nothing to do with speed and everything to do with accuracy… to win, the pilot must accurately plan and predict fuel usage and time en route. Congrats to Joan Kerwin and her son for their first place finish (”They always win,” I was told).

(Almost) on the line.

I volunteered to judge the Spot Landing contest, which, ahem, is evidently harder than it looks. No one actually hit the line, but the winner, Maggie Donovan, was within 66 feet — and it was a pretty landing at that. Congrats!

Even though I was “grounded,”  a day spent at a beautiful airport on a beautiful day is always a good time, and I had a great day with some very, very nice people.  To learn more about this organization –which sponsors scholarships and provides a network for woman in aviation —  check out their website at www.ninety-nines.org.