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Jersey Girl

petehowell

Well Known Member
The call came in on Thursday morning from May at the Boxer rescue group. She asked if I flew in cold weather. In my mind I wanted to respond with a comment asking if a bear pottied in the forest, but May is a nice lady, so I just told her I fly pretty much all year round, with the exception of days well below zero.

She said good, b/c there was white Boxer girl in Fargo that needed a ride to a new home in the Twin Cities. I said that would work out pretty well b/c I would be attending the December Minnesota Wing meeting and was looking for a place to fly. Wingman Deluxe Bernie was even game to tag along in the super slick, Vetterman muffler heated, SkyPig Deuce!! (more info)

Bernie and I left the meeting at Lake Elmo and headed NW to Fargo (u betcha!) It was plenty cold, but we picked up a 10kt tail wind at 4500 ft and life was good. We chatted on 22.75 while the frozen tundra rolled by....

Jersey%20Girl%20023.jpg


The lakes are still in the process of freezing and had some open water in the center:

Jersey%20Girl%20020.jpg


Soon enough, we were were nearing the TRSA and talking to Fargo approach. They vectored us for landing on the 9000ft RWY36. After doing some quick calculations, we declared it long enough for a safe landing in an RV at an OAT near 0degF (takeoff appeared doable as well). It looks like they do or did fly KC-135s out of Fargo - very nice airport. (Update - it was F-16 ANG base - no longer in service) That's downtown Fargo off the right wing.

Jersey%20Girl%20028.jpg


The great people at Fargo Jet Center took good care of us. I called up on Friday to let them know what we were doing and they told us they were pet friendly and we were welcome. It is a beautiful independent FBO. They are working hard to become "the place" to quick turn corp jets going from Europe to Asia or the west coast. Like I said, good people - I hope they do really well. Here is my -9A and the SPII on the ramp.

Jersey%20Girl%20031.jpg


Soon enough, Jersey and Wendy showed up for the exchange. Here are Wendy, Jersey, and me ready to brave the frozen ramp.

Jersey%20Girl%20037.jpg


Bernie helps load Jersey up!

Jersey%20Girl%20042.jpg


One last Goodbye.....

Jersey%20Girl%20045.jpg


More of the same on the way home, but get this - we had 10kt tail wind at 5500 on the way home, too. Karma is a good thing!!!

Jersey%20Girl%20017.jpg


Here is a video of the arrival:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwdb_ueAdas

APRS tracking nicely over some remote areas - this has been a great tool for coordinating the rescue trips.

Jersey%20APRS.jpg


Google maps says the trip from St Paul to Fargo is about 4hrs by car. We made it there, picked up the dog, and made it back in less time than that. It was a wee bit more fun, too!!
 
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Hmmm....

Pete, I commend you on your efforts but let me be the first say you are crazy!!!!:D I flew home from work the other day and it was 37. I was frozen. But it was a "dry" cold.:eek:

Take my "man card" away but I readily admit, I don't do cold!!!
 
Thanks for the story Pete. I actually tracked you part of the way today and was wondering what the heck you were doing. Great heart you have to volunteer your services like that.
 
Hmmm

Crazy is as Crazy does.........or something like that! Gotta embrace winter!!

Pete, I commend you on your efforts but let me be the first say you are crazy!!!!:D I flew home from work the other day and it was 37. I was frozen. But it was a "dry" cold.:eek:

Take my "man card" away but I readily admit, I don't do cold!!!
 
As always...

Great story Pete! Bernie, where's your coat??:D (Only Minnesotans would be out in 0 degree temps with a sweatshirt on!) Glad to see you had a good day to fly west.
Tom and I were going to fly the ladies to KRGK today for lunch but the ceilings were looking suspiciously low so I called flight service and they reported marginal VFR conditions across the route that would be lowering as the day went on. A quick check of the metars verified the ceilings were low 2000-2600. My wife wasn't comfortable flying in low ceilings so I called Tom and cancelled. We were in the hanger for a half hour talking to another pilot, walked outside and the sky was blue with no clouds in sight! :confused: Where did the weather go?
The Fargo trip looked like fun. I think the pooch looked like he was excited to fly! My hats off to you.
 
Pete, before you know it, people will start thinking you are a nice guy!

A gentleman and a scholar (i.e., real man and a geek).
 
She asked if I flew in cold weather. In my mind I wanted to respond with a comment asking if a bear pottied in the forest, but May is a nice lady, so I just told her I fly pretty much all year round, with the exception of days well below zero.

Bernie and I left the meeting at Lake Elmo and headed NW to Fargo

I loved flying in the cold out of Lake Elmo in my youth. The Tomahawk I rented actual had decent performance at 0 deg F.

Great job with the dogs. We just adopted a shelter dog (white german shepard) this summer and find them to be excellent dogs.
 
Jay,

It is a highly modified RV-7A......;)

Click the links:

She said good, b/c there was white Boxer girl in Fargo that needed a ride to a new home in the Twin Cities. I said that would work out pretty well b/c I would be attending the December Minnesota Wing meeting and was looking for a place to fly. Wingman Deluxe Bernie was even game to tag along in the super slick, Vetterman muffler heated, SkyPig Deuce!! (more info)
 
Dogs in the Plane

My son has a pitt bull and I am planning on ferrying the dog back and forth from New Orleans. Question: do you put ear muffs on the dogs? Do you have some way of preventing the dog from jumping over the seat into the cockpit? Do you give the dogs Benadril to calm them down? Any bad experiences with dogs having to land (air sickness).


SS Anderson
RV 7A 84 hours
Lafayette, La/.
 
K9 Flying

Hi Steve,

I have had great luck with the Boxers. We run them a bit to make sure they do their business - and have sometimes given them a bit of Benadyl to make them sleepy. Either way, once the engine starts they tend to curl up and go to sleep. When it is cold, I bundle them in a blanket, and they usually dont perk up until after shut down.

I have not used ear muffs - but I don't fly the same dog around more than once.
 
Cute, cute, cute dog!! I love Boxers! I've had three, and each has been a joy.

Give her a good ear rub for me!!
 
Boxer stuff

Let me chime in here for a moment and let you guys know that Pete was also one of our featured speakers at our December MN Wing meeting (along with RV insurance man Scott Smith). Pete did another one of his excellent talks on LED lighting and the APRS tracking system. Even though his complement of engineering brain cells us way off the chart, Pete gave a very infomrative talk that even this old retired pilot could comprehend. Then he jumped in the RV-9A and headed off to rescue Jersey.

Thanks Pete!!!
 
I visited Fargo once. It's a nice place....in June.
December, I cannot imagine. I'll stay in California.

Real nice writeup, thanks mate.
 
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