Dog rescue

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Flyhound
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Dog rescue

Post by Flyhound »

The vast majority of my flying is purely for amusing myself. There is no great societal benefit to travelling crazy distances for very expensive hamburgers. Similarly, none of my backcountry airplane camping trips will end world hunger or bring peace to troubled areas. These things make me smile and that is why I do them. Sometimes, I do try and use my plane for worthwhile causes. Just after Christmas, I volunteered about 8 hours of flying time to get two rescue dogs to their forever homes. The flying was challenging because the weather was marginal and the last time I was IFR current, GPS hadn't been invented yet. Still, both dogs made it to their permanent homes, I got some good flying in at the end of the year and hopefully two families will find their lives improved by their new furry companions. Here's the video of my flights: https://youtu.be/nd8nRKMWwRY
Por mares nunca dantes navegados - a line from a Potugese poem about exploring the unknown.

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gdflys
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Re: Dog rescue

Post by gdflys »

Thanks for volunteering. The Maule is a great platform for transporting animals even in crates with the double door arrangement. I like doing these flights as I also get the added bonus of bribing my daughters to come fly with me. Dogs? Cats? Sure I'll come fly with you. :lol:
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andy
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Re: Dog rescue

Post by andy »

Good video. Reminded me of a flight that I did way back around 1992 transporting a wounded Great Horned Owl and orphaned baby deer from Manassas VA to Hendersonville VA in a rented Cessna 182. Your landing at Friday Harbor reminded me of a currency flight that I did there in a Robinson R44 helicopter on inflatable amphibious floats in 2011. The Maule is a great aircraft for animal rescue flights due to the large cargo area and big access door.
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wtxdragger
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Re: Dog rescue

Post by wtxdragger »

Enjoyed the video and story, nicely done.

Happy New Year!
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Smokyray
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Re: Dog rescue

Post by Smokyray »

Well done and nice video!
I hear ya. One of the primary reasons I sold my RV6 and bought my M5 was sacrificial. I've spent the greater part of my adult life serving far from home, much of it in deserts of SW Asia or crossing the US and most of the rest of the globe at Jet speeds, burning a lot of kerosene, time and effort.

Finally I came to the realization that serving and giving is more important than my own selfish interests. That said, why own an airplane that doesn't have the ability to serve and share the adventure with others?

https://youtu.be/Ymhc9z1dzzc

So that's why we support Missionary aviation and those who serve far from home.
Thanks for sharing!
V/R
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Re: Dog rescue

Post by Rezrider »

Great video and a great mission too! Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Dog rescue

Post by Allparg »

Flyhound you have inspired me! Going to sign up and start flying hopefully soon!

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Flyhound
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Re: Dog rescue

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by Allparg » Sun Jan 02, 2022 7:43 am

Flyhound you have inspired me! Going to sign up and start flying hopefully soon!
Great! I hope you get as big a boost from the families receiving these dogs as I have. It's a great feeling to help out the dogs and the people.
Por mares nunca dantes navegados - a line from a Potugese poem about exploring the unknown.

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Re: Dog rescue

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Post by andy » Sat Jan 01, 2022 7:53 am

Good video. Reminded me of a flight that I did way back around 1992 transporting a wounded Great Horned Owl and orphaned baby deer from Manassas VA to Hendersonville VA in a rented Cessna 182. Your landing at Friday Harbor reminded me of a currency flight that I did there in a Robinson R44 helicopter on inflatable amphibious floats in 2011. The Maule is a great aircraft for animal rescue flights due to the large cargo area and big access door.
Wow Andy, I didn't ever think of transporting a deer, let alone as company for an injured owl. For some reason, I thought all of your fun flying was on the east coast. It's good to hear that you've sampled flying in the PNW too. I moved from Manassas, VA to Port Townsend, WA to be closer to mountains and salt water. So far (7 years) it's been a positive move. Not as many animal rescue opportunities out west as there are back east though. Probably just due to lower population density.
Por mares nunca dantes navegados - a line from a Potugese poem about exploring the unknown.

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Re: Dog rescue

Post by andy »

The people who ran the animal rescue operation had the last name "Critter" (no joke!) Both animals were in ventilated crates but one of the owl's talons was sticking out of an air hole and looked like a 2" long curved black thorn. I was a bit nervous about the owl getting loose and asked them what I should do if that happened. They said to jump out of the airplane. Unfortunately, I didn't have a parachute so that wasn't an option. They had their 1 year old daughter with them and I thought it was her crying. Turned out to be the baby deer. They sound exactly like a human child. It was a short flight - maybe 30 minutes - and the animals were quiet. I've never done animal rescues in the Maule but it's still a possibility.

Manassas VA was where I did most of my primary fixed-wing flight training and all of my helicopter training. Port Townsend looks a lot prettier and doesn't sit in the DC SFRA. I still have to endure it when I fly to the DC Metro area since some of my relatives live there but it's tense flying in that kind of airspace. Between the SFRA and Dulles Class B right on top of you, IFR is simpler than VFR.

We visited Friday Harbor in September 2011. Took a ferry with our rented SUV and spent three days there. I arranged a currency flight beforehand in the R44. I remember doing 360 degree pedal turns down one of the taxiways at Friday Harbor and wondering if the inflatable floats would affect the helicopter's performance. They might in a strong crosswind but I didn't notice them at all since they bolt to the sides of the skids and there isn't much ground contact. Then my wife and I took a 1.5 hour air tour in it over the islands. It was a blast (literally) landing the R44 in a pond and then taking off again. The rotor wash sprayed water all over the place. Absolutely no visibility except up and down. They told me to make sure that the skid didn't get hooked on water plants to avoid a dynamic rollover. We flew over Bill Gates parents' house on one of the islands.

Someday I hope to fly the Maule to the West Coast. It looks beautiful out where you are. I've been as far West as McCall ID and Missoula MT in it and it was a really, really long trip there and back.
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Flyhound
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Re: Dog rescue

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by andy » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:12 pm Someday I hope to fly the Maule to the West Coast. It looks beautiful out where you are. I've been as far West as McCall ID and Missoula MT in it and it was a really, really long trip there and back.
Yeah, I bought my Maule from a pilot in the Seattle area and flew it all the way back to Manassas. Once home, I realized I preferred the proximity of mountains and salt water offered by the Seattle area to any location in Virginia. It took 2 years to disentangle myself from the DC area, but I was finally successful in 2014. We chose Port Townsend because there was a plot of land available on the water and just 4 minutes from the airport. That's where we built our retirement home. The only hangar space available for my Maule while I lived in Manassas was out in West Virginia, about 90 minutes from my home. That was the real deal breaker for living in the DC area. Too many people and too long a wait for hangar space. Living just 4 minutes from my plane makes me a much happier camper. Port Townsend is also in the "rain shadow" of the Olympic Mountains. Seattle gets about 40" of rain a year. We only get 19". It's a magical little micro-climate perfectly suited to having a plane. If you do make it out here, let me know and I'll show you around.
Por mares nunca dantes navegados - a line from a Potugese poem about exploring the unknown.

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Re: Dog rescue

Post by AndrewK »

Nice flight and video! I've never been to the PNW but immediately recognized the pic of Astoria and Cannon Beach from the movie The Goonies since those were a couple of the filming locations.

I did a PnP flight with my then 7 year old a while back and we enjoyed the experience. Need to keep an eye out for more, it's a great excuse to do something different with the plane.

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