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RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 4:35 pm
by admin
Hi all,

Thanks to all of you for joining the Pilots-N-Paws group. Working together to save these animals and get them to a safe haven is the goal we all want to achieve.

I felt that I needed to point out that some of the distances you are requesting are simply too far for one small plane pilot to accomplish. I have the average distance stated under guidelines but I feel it needs repeating.

When we think of planes and flying, most of us have jets in mind and picture going across the country in four hours. Well, true, in a large jet you can. But most small planes fly at a little over 100mph, have limited fuel capabilities and therefore the distance they can travel is much shorter then a jet. A good rule of thumb is that most planes have approximately a three hour fly out time. This means that from the point of take-off they can fly to a destination 3 hours away. Some planes are a little more, some are a little less. The mileage covered is normally around 200 to 500 miles depending once again upon the plane.

If you are asking for a flight half way across the country, it is likely that no pilot will answer your request. However, if you see by looking at the pilot board that there are pilots listed in various states along the route you are asking for, by all means ask them if they would consider trying to coordinate a multi-leg flight. These are difficult due to varying weather conditions but not impossible. If you do ask, please have temporary fosters available should an unexpected problem arrive with weather conditons or a mechanical issue with the plane. That way, the animal is always assured that someone along the route will be there to care for the animal.

It is our hope that eventually as more pilots join our cause, we will have a pilot in every state who is willing to help. That will ease the burden of these long distance trips giving us more options for doing a rescue flight in stages. Please keep in mind that pilots are totally controlled by the weather of the day and back-up arrangements should always be made "just in case." This holds true for all plane rescue transports.

Please feel free to jump in on this conversation. Maybe the pilots will have some additional ideas and suggestions for these longer transport requests. We are all still learning from each other.

Thanks,
Debi

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:40 pm
by Michele
Hello Rescue people.

For long transports, feel free to organize and propose potential routes and reach out to us. Most pilots can do 100-200 miles easily. Driver backups are important though, because we are very weather dependent

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:11 pm
by greydog34a
Debi,

Thanks so much for posting this. Us bug smashers are more then willing to help out when / where we can but I can tell you from personal experience that all to often I (and I am sure many other pilots) get requests for legs of 600 - 1000 miles some times. Most of us also have our primary jobs, families, and other commitments. You hit the nail on the head that about 3 hours of flying out and 3 hours in is about the limit for small planes. If it becomes more then that it really becomes a challenge and trying to arrange a multi-leg / multi-pilot trip makes a lot more sense.

All the best,
Chuck
N2228T

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:38 am
by Jon
If we put Chuck's excellent information in a context easily understood by everyone, here is how to determine if a request is reasonable.

The typical planes flown for PNP rescue transports have a ground speed that is somewhere between 80 knots (92 miles per hour) and 150 knots (172 miles per hour). These are averages and reflect that there are winds aloft that work to slow a plane down, or speed it up. If we use Chuck's 3 hours out that means if the transport falls within 240 nautical miles (276 statute miles) to 450 nautical miles (517 statute miles) it is a trip well within the range most pilots here will fly.

Further, disregard road miles. If you Google the distance between two cities you will get miles on a highway, and almost all of us fly in a straight line between two points. For example, I often fly from Knoxville to Jamestown, NY. That is 653 miles using highways, but is only 510 miles by air. If you want to know the distance we fly use a ruler and a map to measure the straight line distance.

If the transport falls outside the range listed above that does not mean it cannot be done. It does mean that it is either less likely, or that it will require more than one leg. If more than one leg is required I strongly urge that a foster or rescue be found at the end of each leg to be available to hold the animals until the next leg can begin. It may not be necessary to actually have to hold the animals if the pilots can do the transport all in one day, but it makes the probability the transport can be done much higher. Pilots will not and should not be pressured by circumstances (such as no place to house the animals) if there is a question a bout safety.

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:05 pm
by cmerrill
Here's a good link to help with finding Nautical Miles between airports.
http://www.airrouting.com/content/TimeDistanceForm.aspx

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 10:36 pm
by Sarge
Q on protocol on this...
If needing to coordinate for more than one flight due to distance, do we post a new request for additional help if a pilot can do one leg of a flight, or do you prefer staying with the original post and post a reply.
Thanks
Sarge.

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:13 am
by admin
Sarge wrote:Q on protocol on this...
If needing to coordinate for more than one flight due to distance, do we post a new request for additional help if a pilot can do one leg of a flight, or do you prefer staying with the original post and post a reply.
Thanks
Sarge.
Sarge, it is preferable to stay with your original request and within that posted request, perhaps use the tools provided in the "How to" posts at the top of the Animals Needing Transport page to break your longer distances down into approximately 300 nautical mile legs. These are usually a straight line from the point of origin to the final destination. I would choose cities that are well known for each leg, simply to give a pilot an immediate idea of where this route is headed. The pilot will then tell you which airport in that area is acceptable to them. You can certainly suggest a small airport for them to check out but ultimately it is the pilots choice.

If a pilot comes forward and tells you exactly where hey can fly, then jump in and look for other pilots before and after that point to see if they can meet the previous pilot. AS ALWAYS, YOU MUST HAVE A BACKUP PLAN for each leg, particularly if the distance is long. This means locating a temp foster you a approve of at each hand off point. There are fosters on our foster map who have volunteered to help in these types of situations but you must approve them. None of us want the animals or a pilot to be stranded somewhere because for whatever reason, the next pilot in line was not able to fly that day due to mechanical issues, illness, etc. so please be prepared. We also DO NOT want any pilot to feel pressured to have to fly, hurry, etc. to get to the transfer location.

This is the downside of putting together several legs of a transport, it is not the same as ground legs, and the reason why those of us in admin do not promote multi leg flights. As always, it is the pilots choice to become involved or not so we do our best to answer your questions that refer to a several leg transport.

Hope this information was helpful.

Debi

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:13 pm
by Eric27
I was just looking at some of the posts under this. I'm a newer pilot and I like to keep my range under 150 nm. The reason behind this is simple: if I fly out I have to fly back. I think most of the pilots will be making a round trip coming back or going out empty. I did a transport a few weeks ago and I flew out about 130 nm to ick up two dogs and bring them back to a local airport.

If you are looking for a long transport, do some leg work. Put legs together at about 150 to 200 nm. Have a foster ready at each stopping point just in case a link get broken, plus at 150 nm someone might be willing to drive a leg. Be as flexable as possiable. You may get a pilot that can do one leg one day then the next might not be for a few days. Keep in mind a small plane burns 8+ gallons per hour of $4.65 per gallon aviation fuel. We love to fly short hops give us a great excusse for us to da a little flying and not just brun up a $100.00 worth of avgas.

Ask questions the more you know about us the more we can work together.

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:38 pm
by Eric27
OK folks here come my two cents. I fly a Cessna 172, probably one of the most popular planes at any airport. She fly’s at about 110 MPH, the cockpit is about half the size of the front seat of my Toyota pick-up, not a lot of room. As much as like to fly two hours is about my limit which translates to about 200 miles. As has been said before that’s in a straight line. What I look for is a transport that starts at the same airport I fly out of so I can pick-up and fly. If I have to fly to a different airport first that’s time and money (fuel). Next I look at the airport or the area where the transport needs to go. I think for a lot of us we are looking at 200 miles one way or less.
Now with that said I have been looking and I have seen a lot of replies from people with larger faster planes that don’t mind 500 mile trips, but I think those are more I’m going that way so have a passenger or two is not a problem.
Next, I’ve looked at some of the longer transport requests. Time and distance are a big concern. If the pilot is flying from point A to point B for some other reason and has room you’re tied into their schedule. If you can find a foster home there so the transport can sit a few days until the next leg can be made it helps.
And please don’t be afraid to ask for help in some of the planning, we pilots do a lot of that so we know some of the answers. If the rescuer finds a pilot that will work with you and most of us will when you have a difficult transport send one of us an email maybe we have another way of doing something.
And please remember we love to fly and we love dogs to so if the transport doesn’t work out there a real good reason.

Re: RESCUES PLEASE READ/PILOTS PLEASE ADVISE

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:43 pm
by n.dog
first, a big THANK YOU to all the pilots & volunteers. i am new to this & have no idea how to judge the distance of a flight. the flight map just shows a straight line. if i knew how to figure distance, i might be able to help with co-ordinating pilot-to-pilot transfers.
thanks,
n.