As if it were meant to be, a transportation request for a puppy from Florida to California popped up in my email two days before I was scheduled to depart on a cross country trip from Florida to California. Hattie, a 3 month old lab mix, was scheduled to be put down the next day and desperately needed transportation to her new family in California. Knowing that there was not much of a chance that anyone else could easily make a trip of that length, I decided that with some rearranging we could fit Hattie and her crate into our Piper Archer.

Over the course of 3 days Hattie, myself, and a friend made the 11 stop trip from Florida to California. We made great progress from Florida to Texas, but our luck ran out when we departed Texas for California. Over the next two days we pushed our way through 25-30 knot headwinds. At times we were only getting a ground speed of 75 knots and continuous light to moderate turbulence.  It wasn’t much fun for us, but Hattie didn’t seem to mind a bit. She slept for most of the flights, and then happily greeted everyone at all of the FBO’s when we landed.

She was a real hit with the line guys and girls at the front desks, and even some of the other pilots and passengers went out of their way to say hi and pet her. She made a lot of friends along the way. 22.2 hours of flight time later we touched down in San Diego, California.

Hattie was a real trooper, and because of this flight she is now able to live a long great life with her new family in Los Angeles, California. She was such a great sport, very well behaved, and really enjoyable to have along for the ride. We will miss her; her new family is very lucky to have such a great pup!

Lucas