RickWoodall
Well Known Member
When Van started selling his kits....I wonder if he ever imagined one day they would be used to Lifeflight turtles.
I was busy watching my hockey play offs with friends and having a couple margharitas on friday night when the emergency email came. Pilots N Paws Canada needed an emergency rescue flight. Cool, some cute little dog needs to go to a new home. I would do that. NOPE.. A 13lb snapping turtle got hit by a car, was suffereing from severe injuries and needed to go to the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Center (couple hundred miles away) for emergency surgery. A joke, too many margharitas?? I really had no idea there was such a facility or that there was so much worry about turtles. As I read the story to our friends and kids, my daughter absolutely insisted that I fly the turtle. Nuff said, if my daughter wants me to fly a turtle I am IN!
I accepted the mission and told them I would check wx at 6am and be on route shortly after if wx allowed. Wx was horrible and caused a bit of a delay but I did launch. I could not fail the turtles! Anyway, long and short of it, this turtle rescue has become a big story. Seems everyone needs a smile and some positive news so several papers and now CBC radio have picked up the story about the emergency airlift of a gravely injured turtle. Actually the rescue facility I landed at in Sarnia to pick up the orginal patient, asked if I would mind taking a second smaller turtle with me, it had suffered a boat propeller strike and was cracked.
Funny what we can do with our little airplanes.
http://www.theobserver.ca/2013/05/16/volunteers-go-the-distance-to-help-injured-snapping-turtle
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...31612779.42738.184533238284115&type=1&theater
Still looking forward to a cute little dog for a flight. First turtles in the logbook!
Happy to be a tiny piece of this funny story. Buddies at the hangar are having a hoot with the nicknames now.
I was busy watching my hockey play offs with friends and having a couple margharitas on friday night when the emergency email came. Pilots N Paws Canada needed an emergency rescue flight. Cool, some cute little dog needs to go to a new home. I would do that. NOPE.. A 13lb snapping turtle got hit by a car, was suffereing from severe injuries and needed to go to the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Center (couple hundred miles away) for emergency surgery. A joke, too many margharitas?? I really had no idea there was such a facility or that there was so much worry about turtles. As I read the story to our friends and kids, my daughter absolutely insisted that I fly the turtle. Nuff said, if my daughter wants me to fly a turtle I am IN!
I accepted the mission and told them I would check wx at 6am and be on route shortly after if wx allowed. Wx was horrible and caused a bit of a delay but I did launch. I could not fail the turtles! Anyway, long and short of it, this turtle rescue has become a big story. Seems everyone needs a smile and some positive news so several papers and now CBC radio have picked up the story about the emergency airlift of a gravely injured turtle. Actually the rescue facility I landed at in Sarnia to pick up the orginal patient, asked if I would mind taking a second smaller turtle with me, it had suffered a boat propeller strike and was cracked.
Funny what we can do with our little airplanes.
http://www.theobserver.ca/2013/05/16/volunteers-go-the-distance-to-help-injured-snapping-turtle
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...31612779.42738.184533238284115&type=1&theater
Still looking forward to a cute little dog for a flight. First turtles in the logbook!
Happy to be a tiny piece of this funny story. Buddies at the hangar are having a hoot with the nicknames now.
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