petehowell
Well Known Member
Things are a bit slow around the office, so when the call came in asking if I could help transport a boxer from Indy to Minne, it was an easy YES. If the weather was good, I could swing it. The Boxer ladies had coordinated a 2 hop flight from Eagle Creek Airpark to Minne to help out the saddest case I have seen yet, Sully. Allegedly, Sully was caught in the middle of a fight between a married couple that were not getting along. One spouse left and the other took it out on the dog by not feeding him for several weeks.
Here is how he looked when they first got him. It was touch and go to see if he would make it thru the night.
Hard to ignore that one. He is emaciated beyond belief.
WX stunk on Monday, so we scrubbed, but Tuesday was beautiful. Mike out of KEYE and I agreed to meet at 1:30 at Aurora, IL to exchange the pooch. The flight down was great - Approach cleared me into the bravo right up to 7500 for the trip down. That's Minne - way down there....
Yep, it is cold down there. Comfy in the cockpit with the sun on me, tho. Past Winona, this is over the Mighty Mississippi just north of Lacrosse, WI. The bluffs are on the Cheesehead side of the river.
Mississippi south of Lacrosse...
Ice chunks in the Rock River over Rockford.....
10mi SE of Rockford, Approach turned me loose and I descended to land on an ice covered runway at KARR. The nice people at Lumanair allowed us to bring Sully in to warm up. I met Mike and Sully, paid for my gas, and we were off. Given some food, this will be a gentle giant of a dog.
Very good natured, he put his head on my lap as soon as the O-320 started purring:
The only way to fly!
The trip home was very quiet at 6500. The winds had dissipated, so we made pretty good time. I dropped Sully off at Red Wing to meet his foster family. They will fix him up real quick and find a permanent family for him.
I departed Red Wing and hustled home to Anoka to beat the sunset and and the chill it brings on.........
It was a great trip! I brought the IPod Touch along and it worked really well while working with ATC. My son uploaded the latest EP(the Open Door) from Deathcab for Cutie the other day. Don't tell him, but I really, really enjoyed it. A little JT, REM, Springsteen and Jimmy Buffett rounded out the playlist.
I gotta tell ya, a sunny afternoon over the frozen Midwest with a Boxer head snoring in your lap, while singing along to the iPod is about as good as it gets!
Here is how he looked when they first got him. It was touch and go to see if he would make it thru the night.
Hard to ignore that one. He is emaciated beyond belief.
WX stunk on Monday, so we scrubbed, but Tuesday was beautiful. Mike out of KEYE and I agreed to meet at 1:30 at Aurora, IL to exchange the pooch. The flight down was great - Approach cleared me into the bravo right up to 7500 for the trip down. That's Minne - way down there....
Yep, it is cold down there. Comfy in the cockpit with the sun on me, tho. Past Winona, this is over the Mighty Mississippi just north of Lacrosse, WI. The bluffs are on the Cheesehead side of the river.
Mississippi south of Lacrosse...
Ice chunks in the Rock River over Rockford.....
10mi SE of Rockford, Approach turned me loose and I descended to land on an ice covered runway at KARR. The nice people at Lumanair allowed us to bring Sully in to warm up. I met Mike and Sully, paid for my gas, and we were off. Given some food, this will be a gentle giant of a dog.
Very good natured, he put his head on my lap as soon as the O-320 started purring:
The only way to fly!
The trip home was very quiet at 6500. The winds had dissipated, so we made pretty good time. I dropped Sully off at Red Wing to meet his foster family. They will fix him up real quick and find a permanent family for him.
I departed Red Wing and hustled home to Anoka to beat the sunset and and the chill it brings on.........
It was a great trip! I brought the IPod Touch along and it worked really well while working with ATC. My son uploaded the latest EP(the Open Door) from Deathcab for Cutie the other day. Don't tell him, but I really, really enjoyed it. A little JT, REM, Springsteen and Jimmy Buffett rounded out the playlist.
I gotta tell ya, a sunny afternoon over the frozen Midwest with a Boxer head snoring in your lap, while singing along to the iPod is about as good as it gets!