Cloud Nine Rescue Flights

I’d aimed for having two transports in December. Kylie Troy of the Animal Adoption League had eMailed me with a request for a transport up to Syracuse, NY, a run that I had done before for her on previous occasions. Frequently, we’ve had to combine transports with multiple senders to fill the plane. In this case, Kylie eMailed me with a list that was larger than I could carry! Because the health certificates issued for the dogs expire after 10 days and I knew we wouldn’t be able to transport the remaining dogs in that time frame, it was expecially important to  make an accurate estimation of how many animals we could take rather than just having her bring all of the dogs and we’d fit in as many as we could. Health certificates represent work and expense on the part of the sender, so we want to make sure that if a health certificate is obtained, that it gets used. I looked at the sizes of the dogs being sent, and we agreed on 15 dogs that we believed would fit. I knew it would be a tight squeeze, but believed they’d all fit without an issue.

This girl received lots of love from her foster dad, but it was time for her to head off up north to find her forever home.

We planned the transport for Sunday, December 13th. We normally do transports on a Sunday, which allows a flight down Saturday and also spending some time with the senders. This time is frequently spent discussing future transports and how we can do things better, as well as important social interaction. It’s always nice to get to actually spend time with the people you’re working with, especially since we’re based all over. Additionally, there were several events in Rock Hill on Saturday that I wanted to attend to get to meet with some more of the animal rescue leaders and volunteers from the area. However by Friday morning it was clear that Sunday’s weather was not looking good, with freezing rain predicted on the ground and at altitudes across the entire route of flight, plus low clouds that were forecast to be at or below minimums for instrument approaches into the airports I would be landing at.

It was a chilly morning, but everyone still bundled up and came out to bring the dogs to the Rock Hill airport and help get them loaded up and ready to go.

This may present a question to some people. We state that when others can’t fly, we still are. Winter snow and summer thunderstorms don’t deter us. That is true, but safety is always of paramount concern and there is no airplane built that can fly anytime in any condition (although some come pretty close). When forecasted conditions are less than required by instrument approaches and freezing rain is predicted, then that’s an indication that you may not be able to safely leave the ground. Changing the day of a transport is not an easy decision, especially a day earlier. It means that the senders have to make sure the animals are ready a day earlier and get to the airport that day, and the receivers have to be able to receive the dogs on that new day. The media needs to be contacted and informed of a change in schedule. It also means last-minute changes to flight planning.

We had plenty of volunteers who came to pick up the dogs in Syracuse!

Fortunately, Kylie was able to work all of these details out for senders and receivers, and the transport was a go for Saturday, which looked to be much better weather wise. Since this was Friday morning when I made that call, it also meant that I had to prepare last-minute for flying down to South Carolina. After work (yes, I do have a day job!) I headed home to pack my bag, and then to the airport to hop in the plane and fly down south. The winds were howling, but it was a perfectly clear night with not a cloud the whole trip down. I got there in time for a late dinner. Jackie Kyles, who’s not only someone I’ve worked with in the past on transports but is also Treasurer on Cloud Nine’s Board of Directors, was kind enough to let me stay at her house. After dinner we all went to sleep, as it was still going to be an early morning.

The dogs were ready to deplane in Syracuse!

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to the airport. Both CN2 and WBTV were there to do stories on what we were doing, and did very positive stories on Cloud Nine, our mission, and the epidemic of animal overpopulation. It was quickly evident that getting all these animals packed in would be just as much of a challenge as I thought it would be. By the time we had virtually all of them loaded there was one left, Abby, who ended up being my copilot! I don’t just have that sticker up there for show!

See, dog really IS my copilot!

With the dogs loaded, I fired up the engines and we headed for Syracuse. As I was flying along it quickly became evident that this schedule change was a good move. One could not have asked for a better day to fly. There was not a single cloud in the sky the whole way from South Carolina to Syracuse, with smooth air the whole way and a slight tailwind. After a bit of flying around Charlotte airpsace, I managed to get cleared direct to Syracuse, and had an easy flight up.

Flying up with our very full load, but a beautiful trip!

Once in Syracuse, we unloaded the animals. Many volunteers came to help with unloading them! Larry Wilcox, who is Cloud Nine’s website designer, lives in Syracuse. He and his wife came to have lunch with me and meet face-to-face. Larry saw a news story on Cloud Nine the first time we came to Syracuse and wanted to help, so he volutneered his web-design skills to revamp Cloud Nine’s website. He’s done a great job, and I was glad to get to meet him and shake his hand.

The flight home was an easy one as well. It felt odd Sunday morning that I actually woke up in my house instead of somewhere in the South getting ready for a transport. When I took my dogs out first thing in the morning, it was instantly affirmed that making the trip Saturday was a good idea, as my entire property was a solid sheet of ice, with freezing rain coming down at a good rate. Throughout the day the weather remained in conditions that would not have been good to fly in. I was glad that we got this transport done when we did, and that we were able to get the 15 dogs moved. I’ll be heading back to Rock Hill right after Christmas, though, to fetch the remaining dogs and take them up to safety in Syracuse where they will be adopted out to loving new homes!

The flight up Saturday was as gorgeous as one could ask for, not a single cloud the whole way from South Carolina to Syracuse!

I’d like to thank everyone involved for another successful flight, and especially for handling the last-mintue changes to schedule so graciously. Kylie Troy and her group at the Animal Adoption League always make the transports a breeze. Karen Kukla and her team in Syracuse were on time and helpful on receiving. I’ll be seeing all of them again in a week when I finish the job and bring the remaining dogs up to Syracuse.

Here are links to some of the coverage we got!

CN2 News

Animal rescuer airlifts York County strays

Blue Skies,

Ted