In early 2018, I decided to pursue a lifelong ambition of learning how to fly. In 2019, I purchased a small aircraft and finally earned the right to call myself a private pilot. Soon after, it became apparent to me that while being able to loaf around in the sky was fun, there wasn't a ton of purpose behind each flight. I wanted to be able to use my license for something good; to help. After all, that's why I became a teacher in the first place. That was when I joined Pilots n Paws. This not-for-profit organization allows pilots and rescue organizations to help ferry animals out of high risk situations and into their forever homes. By hiring me as your tutor, a portion of every lesson goes towards rescue flights and helping those animals who cannot help themselves. 

249 nm, 2.1 hours, 118 knots (average)

Copilot: Ben; Passenger(s): Jess.

My very first Pilots N' Paws (PnP) flight, ironically enough contained zero paws! I was fortunate to have my good friend and fellow pilot Ben join me on this mission. My wife, Jess, also rode along in the back. I'm not sure I knew what to expect conducting one of these flights, but honestly it was a lot of fun just to fly out to an airport I had never been to. We picked up Percy from another pair of pilots (my sincerest apologies gentlemen but I forgot to write down your names) and took him directly back home to CT, specifically Windham. Marla from The Riley Farm Rescue took him in and has given him a wonderful life ever since.

203 nm, 1.6 hours, 127 knots (average)

Copilot: Jess

This flight will forever stay in my memory for so many reasons. First and foremost, this flight occurred on my wonderful wife's birthday, and rather than be upset that these 4 cats overshadowed her day, she embraced it! Technically I cannot count her as a copilot, but for the sake of this blog I am going to do so whenever she flies along in the front seat.

Flight-wise, this trip wasn't particularly memorable up until we came in to land at T. F. Green in Providence. The weather opened up and we encountered a bit of rain and wind. On top of that, the crosswind runway was closed, making our landing quite bumpy. The poor cats, who had been silent for the entire ride, voiced their displeasure but despite the bumps we landed without incident. Once on the ground, Jess and I fought the wind just trying to get the carriers out of the plane and into the lobby, where we were nearly mowed over by the adopters! We felt like rock stars; that is until everyone got their cats, then they were the (rightful) stars of the show!

335 nm, 3.2 hours, 105 knots (average)

Copilot: Dustin

After a small hiatus, I was able to join a rescue run of four cats coming up from Accomack, VA. I've flown to and from Accomack a few times in my training and beyond, and it's always a pleasure to stop down there. It's an absolutely beautiful airport.

While I had never met Dustin before, he asked to hop aboard for the flight. He was based at the same airport I was, and had considerably more hours than I did, so inviting the second set of eyes and ears on the flight was a no-brainer. If memory serves this was his first rescue as well.

Overall this flight was beautiful, with crisp winter air and very little turbulence. We even got a superb view of NYC lit up from 7000 feet. The city is really a sight to see, especially at night. The only real bump in the trip, so-to-speak, were the adopters being locked out of the lobby. It took a bit to find the pilot gate and get everyone home, but all the kittens made it safe and sound.

124 nm, 0.9 hours, 138 knots (average)

Copilot: Jess

Up until this point, all of our flights had been from rescue organizations to final homes. This was our first time taking cats from an organization and bringing them to a rescue in the northeast. This flight was definitely shorter than many of the others, but it isn't about the distance, it's about the animals. The tailwind pushing us along made this trip that much quicker, and helped to get these kittens to a safe location with less stress.

479 nm, 3.2 hours, 150 knots (average)

Copilot: Ben

Have you ever read something wrong but been absolutely certain that you were correct? That's what happened to me here. I swore up and down that this rescue had requested a flight from Philadelphia to Maine. It was Pittsburgh... That was an unexpected 150+ nautical miles. Not an unreasonable or unsafe amount, but more than I had originally anticipated.

I volunteered to do the entire flight and was not about to let this cutie wait for a second pilot just because I messed up geography. Luckily the weather was gorgeous, and I had Ben to back me up. He's always up to fly and I appreciate his commitment to aviation and safety.

We had one of the worst headwinds I had ever seen on the way down. We had to stop for fuel about halfway and were a tad low for my tastes once we landed in Pittsburgh. Despite the slow flight down we were actually early and managed to grab a crew car to go into the city for lunch!

Upon return we picked up our passenger, who had been initially rescued from the streets of Kuwait. Yes, that's right, from Kuwait. Over 6000 miles away. The flight back up to Maine was lightning fast. That headwind I complained about on the way down was now a tailwind, and we were pushing 165 knots (groundspeed) at one point. We didn't even need to stop for fuel, and we arrived in Maine with plenty to spare!

147 nm, 2.3 hours, 113 knots (average)

Copilot: Ben

I'll admit that my wife has turned me into a cat-person. I've got nothing against dogs (I grew up with them) but we have cats now and I adore them. That being said, if Lucy's adopter hadn't showed up, I would've taken her home on the spot.

This sweet girl could not have been a better passenger. I was very worried about this trip because Lucy was the first animal I had transported without a carrier. She was instead harnessed into the back seat, but still had room to move and get comfortable. I was worried she would try to jump out, or potentially disrupt Ben or I as we flew. She was an angel! She curled up in the back seat and promptly went to sleep. Occasionally she would wake up in the middle of the flight, look out the window, and go back to sleep.

Once on the ground in White Plains, she didn't want to get out of the plane! After a bit of coaxing, we managed to help her out of the plane an into the FBO lobby. There she was reunited with another dog she had spent time in foster care with. Her new owner had decided that Lucy should be homed with her former friend permanently, and the two of them were elated to see each other again.

Then we began the flight home, which is a story for another day. White Plains is certainly a unique airport; and uncharacteristically busy given its size...

241 nm, 2.3 hours, 105 knots (average)

Copilot: Jess

I should've updated this one a long time ago, but it got away from me! This was an incredibly ambitious flight for several reasons. The first, and most obvious, is the sheer number of animals that rode along in this transport. A total of thirteen (yes, 13) kittens of varying ages got to join us on this flight, away from high kill shelters in the south, to loving families in eastern MA.

This mission was taken just a week after earning my Instrument Rating (IR), which allowed me to fly in less than optimal conditions. While the weather wasn't awful, I decided to file IFR just to be on the safe side, and boy did it come in handy. Had we flown VFR, we would've been dodging clouds all afternoon, but instead we got a chance to just punch right through them over New York and New Jersey! We weren't in the clouds for very long, but it was enough for Jess to see the value of having the IR in my back pocket in case we ever truly needed it.

I thought having so many animals in the back of the plane would be difficult, but as it turns out, cats are very decent travelers. There was no noticible difference in transporting 13 cats versus transporting 4. The only real change was the number of carriers in the back. None of them made any complaints about the ride, and one even spent a bit of time trying of paw at Jess through the screen door. I have no doubt in my mind that all 13 of these little guys and girls will be adopted to loving and wonderful forever homes!

183 nm, 1.9 hours, 96 knots (average)

Wrangler: Jess

These three beautiful sisters came all the way from Texas originally! I was asked to help transport them from New Jersey into their final rescue in CT. I'm not entirely certain of how they made the original journey from TX to TN, but from there they took a three day journey by car, ultimately leading them to the flight out of southern NJ. For three young pups, this was quite the ordeal and I'm surprised how well behaved they were given the circumstances. Jess rode along with me and usually acts as a second set of eyes and ears on the ride back, but this flight she had the pleasure of wrangling the pups in the back while I flew the plane! They were a bit rowdy but eventually settled in enjoyed the ride.

I didn't realize it until I crunched the numbers, but this was by far our slowest rescue flight (in terms of average speed) to date. This makes a ton of sense given the winds aloft and turbulence we encountered. Once on the ground at KHFD, we were greated by the rescue crew from Whitney's Only Wish (WOW) Rescue. Callie, Cassie, and Karen got to be reunited with their brothers who rode up on a flight earlier in the month.