Planes, Pups, and Possibilities

Flying has been a passion of mine for the last 25 years. Using tax money earmarked for the IRS, I started my flight lessons after taking a tour flight in Leadville. My nagging questions finally drove Ursula, the pilot to throw up her hands and tell me "here, take the yoke and I'll tell you what to do"! The rest of the flight turned into an impromptu lesson, and I was hooked. Aspen Flying Club was stuck with me for the next 5 years, as I progressed from student to private pilot, commercial pilot, and finally flight instructor. This is where I lived (practically) for the next years while I flew with every student I could entice. I flew everything I could get my hands on and built hours. My first flying job actually came from a student recommendation, and I was lucky enough to fly for a photo and mapping company for 5 years, until the airplane was sold out from under me. Enough history- suffice it to say that flying is in my blood, and I am as comfortable in the air as on the ground.

Another passion of mine is animals- the unconditional love and lack of BS appeals to me in the deepest way. An unfortunate truth these days is that there are many animals who are left without homes, for whatever reason- abuse, neglect, owners passing on or moving. The list of reasons is long, and the result is a huge population of animals who need to be moved to save their lives.

So it is only natural that I would combine these two loves to help the animals that depend on and trust us to do the right thing for them (if that were always the case, the need for relocation wouldn't exist). Bulletin boards and websites now work to hook up animals who need to be relocated with the pilots who volunteer to fly them. This is a fantastic way for all pilots to do something other than fly around the patch or land somewhere for that $100 hamburger. I wish that I could afford to make more of these flights, but I do what I can. Each one is an emotional rollercoaster, and it never ceases to amaze me how attached I become to every dog that I fly with. Below are a few of my most memorable flights. Two ended in adoptions by Suzanne and I. Click on the pictures for the stories.

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