Some time ago, I saw a TV special on adopting animals. Pilots N Paws was mentioned, and that caught my interest. I am a member of Angel Flight West, and we fly patients to and from their appointments and treatments.

I signed up for notifications on the PNP website, and received a request for a flight from Fillmore, CA. Fillmore is 10 minutes from the airport I fly from, so I thought it would be a good first experience. I posted my willingness to fly the dog, and after some message exchanges, made arrangements with Alex to meet in Paso Robles to transfer the dog.

In checking the weather prior to our flight, we saw that Paso Robles was socked in, but San Luis Obispo, 25 miles away, was clear. Alex and I agreed to meet there to make the exchange.

Ardis brought the dog, along with a crate and her dog food to the airport, and we got the crate and the dog into the airplane. The crate just fit through the door, so I measured the crate for future reference. She also took a picture of the three of us, Jim, my copilot on the left, and me (Steve).

The flight was uneventful, a beautiful day where we could see the coastline for miles. We landed at San Luis Obispo, and checked in at the Jet Center. They were very accommodating, even had a bowl of small milk bones by the check in desk!

After a short time waiting, we saw Alex’s plane coming in for a landing. He taxied near our plane, and we made the transfer. His plane has a lot more space than ours, and it was no problem to get the crate and dog into his airplane.

It was a very rewarding first experience, and we look forward to doing it again.

Steve, PNP Pilot