Bravo is a miniature poodle who needed transport from Russellville, AR (northwest of Little Rock) to Poodle Rescue Houston. The transport coordinator in Russellville was Molli Corbin, for whom I have flown before (Fifinella, my Shih Tzu, was on one of those flights from Austin, TX to Russellville; I ended up adopting her and flying her back to Houston).

A few days before the scheduled flight, Molli contacted me about an especially urgent transport. La-La, and English bulldog, had been adopted out from Russellville to a home in Dallas last year. La-La’s new mom had fallen, broken her hip, and was incapacitated; her daughter had moved back in to care for her, but the young granddaughter was tormenting La-La. The daughter was concerned that La-La might accidentally injure the child, so she had issued an ultimatum: La-La would be banished to the backyard (a death sentence for an overweight bulldog in the Dallas summer heat) or surrendered to the local high-kill shelter unless she could be moved immediately.

Pearland Regional to Rockwall, TX (near Dallas, La-La’s departure point) to Russellville, AR and back to Pearland would mean a long day (seven flight hours in 20223 + two ground hours for the transfers and refueling + two hours before the take off to check weather, get a flight briefing, pre-flight 223 and fuel up + an hour at the end of the day to hangar and secure the Cardinal). Happily (and again!) fellow Pearland pilot Scott Bennett volunteered his services.

We departed Pearland at 8 a.m., expecting to arrive in Rockwall at 10 a.m. Unfortunately, the climate this summer on the eastern part of Texas has been unstable, volatile, and unpredictable (seems as if I end up every flight deviating around unforeseen thunderstorms). The outlook that day was for Rockwall to have low visibility until 9 a.m., clearing well before our arrival. As we neared, though, about 10 nautical miles out, it became obvious (air traffic control, 223’s on board weather, and Rockwall’s automated weather broadcasts) that things weren’t improving as forecast and that we couldn’t land there. Meanwhile, the airport at Terrell, TX, just behind us, was reporting small breaks. After a quick 180, Scott and I landed there, a mere 16 frustrating nm from our destination, refueled, and waited it out.

After an hour delay, we were able to make the short hop, pick up La-La and depart for Russellville. The rest of the flight was uneventful: we landed at Russellville, delivered La-La to Molli, boarded Bravo, and set course back to Pearland. Scott flew the Russellville-Pearland leg, yet again demonstrating excellent airmanship/aviating skills.

Wade Roberts

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