Pilots N Paws Flights

[DrBill]

Had a anice flight today from Charlotte to Norfolk and back. Took Kaleb to a long term foster home. What a nice dog. Well behaved. Slept all the way.

Make a family a great pet.

BILL

[Jeff_S]

I do quite a few PnP flights as well. I used to do more Angel Flights but it became harder to do those on weekends, and frankly, the Mooney isn't as well equipped to get people who are somewhat incapacitated in and out. But dogs seem to love the Mooney. Here's a few pics from the last couple of years. Brook was the funniest one...she actually had 9 puppies along for the ride, and one of them crawled under the back seat and nearly stowed away for the return trip. Good thing I found it before I took off...I didn't need a new puppy at that time in my life.

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33403-/

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33402-/

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33401-/

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33400-/

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33399-/

[DrBill]

AWESOME.. Good to see other Mooney owners are PNP pilots. This trip was the first to use my "medium" crate. I have a "large" crate but cant fit that in, so I did use the bottom half from time to time. I took 4 puppies last month and used a cardboard box. That was a good move since the pilot I met did not have a container so we moved the dogs, box and all.

I hope other Mooney PNP Pilots post some pictures. I think yesterday's flight was my 8th PNP flight.

BILL

[1964-M20E]

I have been signed up for some time now and have tried to do several flights but it always seems that something comes up either schedule or mechanical. I'm looking forward to my first PNP flight.

[lahso]

I've been with PnP from the beginning, and am so glad to see other Mooney pilots carrying critters!

[DrBill]

Had a great flight today.  Picked up 4 lab-mix pups in Shelby NC and met a Grumman driver from White Plains, NY at West Point VA. 

The interesting thing about this trip was that ATC called out a total of 4 traffic to watch for and 3 were Mooneys.  1 Cessna.  The three Mooneys were 201AK, 730D and 2906L

All passed within 1 mile and 1000 ft vertical.

Here's a picture of the pups.

5.1 Hours in the airplane and loving it all the while.

BILL

 

[lahso]

Good for you, BIll. Thanks for helping the pups.

[gregwatts]

I have been signed up with PnP for several months, but have yet to actually take a trip. The two that I was supposed to do ended up cancelling or rescheduling due to issues with the animals.

I look forward to doing my first run!

[Marauder]

How does one go about signing up?

[aviatoreb]

I was thinking about signing up too.  There was just last week a story about a gentleman nearby in Lake Placid, with a Cessna 185 who has been PnP.  I am thinking about trying to meet him to learn about the ins and outs.

[gregwatts]

How does one go about signing up?

 

 

Visit the website.......http://pilotsnpaws.org/

[mulro767]

My first PnP trip with Sadie.  She is going to chase birds away at KLEX.  Watch out for her.  3 year old border collie.

 

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33550-gopr4722/

[jkenney]

I have done about 8 PnP trips since signing up last summer.   They are great fun and seeing the joy in the new owners eyes when you show up with the dog makes it all worth it.    Seeing so many requests that I cannot help on really hurts though.

[carusoam]

Do you have any contact info or website for the PnP organization?

Best regards,

-a-

I see it above!

[rbridges]

do dogs generally do well in the plane?  we bought a puppy 2 hrs away, and it threw up in our car on the way home.  what about noise?  I guess it's a one time deal so no worries about hearing protection?

[aviatoreb]

I have also been thinking about doing pilots-n-paws lately.  I am just a little nervous about flying with dogs I don't know loose in the cabin while PIC.  Is it possible to restrict my willingness to only ferry dogs that can be carried in a dog crate?

[Hank]

do dogs generally do well in the plane?  we bought a puppy 2 hrs away, and it threw up in our car on the way home.  what about noise?  I guess it's a one time deal so no worries about hearing protection?

 

I waited until our puppy was about 6 months old, then took him on a ~10-minute local flight in his crate. A couple months later we hopped over to the next airport, visited people and came back [in the wife's lap, we weren't planning to fly that day]. Since then, he travels very well in his crate in the back seat [he rides there in the car sometimes, in the plane all the time] up to 3 hours [HTW-MLJ with headwind]. No problemo.

 

Happy flying, ya'll. From talking to others, dogs fly similar to how they ride in a car. Two hours may have stretched it for a young puppy--was he in a crate, a box, the floorboards, a lap?? It can make a difference, more so with very young dogs.

 

And no, we don't do anything about noise protection. We do occasionally talk to him in the back seat, he rarely makes a peep until the tires chirp, but the last couple times has squawked in the pattern, I guess he noticed the power reduction like when the dog wakes up in the car when you hit the brakes or slow down for the exit ramp.

[DrBill]

PNP Process Sign up on their website www.pilotsnpaws.org.  Now check the forum regularly for trips in your area.  I check every other day.  For a long flight (say NC to Pittsburg) I'll figure the total distance then split in half, and find a good airport at that point hopefully with cheap gas.  Then I'll post that I'll take the 1st leg to XYZ airport.  Now I watch that for a pilot to get 2nd leg and then arrange pickup and exchange times.  This weekend I'm planned to go from Wallace NC to Luray VA (200nm) meet and Arrow driver who will take the dog into Eastern Ohio near Pittsburg.

 

Most dogs go to sleep soon after takeoff.  I use a medium dog crate in the back seat for small and medium dogs and the bottom 1/2 that crate for large dogs.  The noise does not seem to bother them for one flight or 2.

 

BILL

[gregwatts]

I did a Pilotsnpaws flight this morning. Picked up a 2  yr old Weimeriener at KSGJ and dropped him off at F45. Dog was a great traveler. I am grateful to have the opportunity to help animals.

[aviatoreb]

I just signed up!

[gregwatts]

Pilotsnpaws mission. 3/10/13     KSGJ _ F45

[Jeff_S]

I have also been thinking about doing pilots-n-paws lately.  I am just a little nervous about flying with dogs I don't know loose in the cabin while PIC.  Is it possible to restrict my willingness to only ferry dogs that can be carried in a dog crate?

 

You can certainly concentrate on small dogs that would only be in a crate, but I've found that the empty baggage compartment with both rear seatbacks up makes a nice enclosure. You can tie a larger dog down to one of the seat-belt posts. I think I wrote in a long ago post how I had one boisterous chocolate lab who ate through the leash that I had used to tie him down, and came into the rear seat area because he wanted to be part of the action. I hadn't yet learned to keep both seat backs up at this point. It wasn't a big deal, but it did cause me to implement the seat-back up policy to help provide another measure of safety.

[DrBill]

I use a medium crate in the back seat.  Yesterday I had a fairly large Lab in there.  He was a bugger to get in but settled right down and took a nap.  What was funny was several times during the 2 hr flight my co-pilot and I would silently look at each other and say... "I guess he ate well last night"..  The dogs flatulance was quie odiferous.  He was the same way on the 2nd leg in the back seat of an Arrow I found out.  Must be the altitude !!

Then he would not come out at the transfer point !  I had to move the crate to the door and then he was dragged out onto the wing.

Quiet the whole way tho.

For a large dog I'd use the bottom half of the medium crate (craigslist) and tether to the crate

Pickup was in Eastern NC near Wilmington.  Given start of Daylight Saving, sun was still low at loading time ! (2nd pic)

This transfer happened at Luray VA.. Note the snow in the hills and the piles along side the ramp area !!.(1st Pic)

 

Bill

[gregwatts]

Sat 3/16/13

[carusoam]

They look pretty happy.

-a-