MinPins Rescue Mission

After a couple of false starts, we completed the Miniature Doberman Pinscher rescue mission this morning.  Polly and Evan flew from Charleston, West Virginia to an adoption group and eventually their new homes in Maryland.

Hangar 14 at JYO

"We" means me and my sister-in-law and expert dog wrangler, Barbara, who had earlier expressed interest in flying. She jumped at the chance to combine a 500-mile demo flight with a rescue mission for some four-legged refugees.

A right turn off RWY 17

This trip all began earlier this week with an urgent plea for help on the Pilots 'N Paws website.  A couple of small (10 pounds and 13 pounds), two-year-old miniature pinschers needed to make the trip pretty urgently, as they were nearing the deadline for finding a new home or being put down.

We originally planned the flight for Friday, August 10, but it became increasingly clear the weather would be cloudy and rainy.  That's not impossible for me as an IFR-rated pilot, but it is much more pleasant to fly in sunny, clear weather where you can see the landscape from the air.

Exit 3 on VA-267, "The Greenway"

So after a flurry of emails exchanging flight plans and phone numbers, it was arranged.  I picked up Barbara about seven o'clock and we headed to Leesburg to pull our Cirrus SR-22 out of the hangar. A quick pre-flight, coordination with Potomac TRACON for our flight plan, and we were off at 08:26 a.m.

We took off from runway 17 at JYO (Leesburg Executive) and turned north over the Greenway to avoid Dulles air space.  Pretty soon however Potomac turned us to Linden VOR and then due west to Charleston. You can see our flight path here.

Short final to runway 23 at CRW

The flight was smooth and clear for the most part, although we did have a broken cloud bank just below us as we crossed over central West Virginia.  I hoped those clouds would burn off as predicted by the time of our return trip.

In a little less than an hour and a half Charleston Approach began our descent from 8000 feet and we opted for the RNAV RWY 23 approach. It was going to be pretty much straight in to the field.  Charleston's airport sits atop a bluff about 1000 feet above sea level and overlooking the city to the west.  

Yeager Airport, Charleston WV

We landed smoothly and had to get some taxi instructions. It was my first time to land here.  KCRW is a pretty big airport, with airline service by both United and USAir, as well as being a West Virginia Air National Guard base.  We taxied down Bravo and were marshaled to the Executive Air ramp.  While they filled the tanks, Barbara and I went in the terminal to meet Evan and Polly.

Evan with Cindy

Evan and Polly prepare to board

N97RJ is now boarding

The MinPins were excited to see us!  The two were indeed small, thin, and very alert.  They bounced around the room, from floor to chairs, and back to the floor.  The only way we could get them to hold still for a photo was for Cindy and her friend (whose name regretably I have forgotten) to pick them up.

As they had been waiting for us and the dogs had been exercised before we arrived, we soon headed out to the plane for boarding.  Both MinPins fit in a single crate easily, and Cindy said they would be happier together in any case.

We learned that the pups had to move out of a shelter kennel on Friday evening before our arrival because their deadline was up.  When we couldn't fly Friday, the pups moved to a volunteer's house to avoid euthanasia.

Elk and Kanawha Rivers

Charleston

Pretty soon we were back at runway 23 and cleared for takeoff.  It was a clear, cool morning and we had good views of the city of Charleston stretched along the banks of the Elk river in the morning sunshine.  The dome of the capitol building glistened in the sun.

Our return flight was uneventful, but marked by more clouds, below us, above us, and around us at times.  That also meant some deviations as we turned and twisted to avoid the building cumulonimbus.

Those would become thunderstorm cells by early afternoon.  Even though they were minor at this point, we still got some light turbulence flying through and around them.

Dog Whisperer

Runway 35 at JYO

Before long air traffic control gave us "direct to JYO" and we found ourselves breaking out of the clouds and into clear weather over Winchester and Front Royal, especially after they let us descend to 4000 feet.

We crossed just north of Mt. Weather and Route 7, cancelled IFR, and flew the visual RWY 35 into a relatively busy JYO. We landed long and taxied to the terminal to meet Stephanie, our PnP organizer and MinPins recipient.

Evan & Polly at JYO

The dogs had been excellent passengers on the flight.  I think we heard just a little complaining while we taxied for takeoff at Charleston, but once we lifted off, they calmed and slept.  We heard nothing out of either MinPin during the entire flight.

They did however wake up when we landed at Leesburg and indicated sincere interest in disembarking as soon as possible.  We tried to be careful, because having a dog get loose on the airfield could be a difficult, if not dangerous (for the dog - all those spinning propellers) situation.

Stephanie was soon at hand and welcoming her new charges.  we handed over their papers and medicines. I have no doubt that these two clean-cut, intelligent, and energetic dogs will soon find a home. If Barbara and I didn't already have five dogs between us, we probably would have been MinPin adoption candidates ourselves.

Pilots 'n Paws, August 12, 2012

All photographs thanks to Barbara Carlson. All rights reserved, 2012