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A few days back I was giving rides to a couple of my teen aged
grandsons. I normally have my wife drop me off at the plane then go to a nearby
larger airport with an restaurant & wait with the kids while I preflight,
fuel up, etc. This gives the spouse and kids who can't fit in my 2 place plane a
place to wait in comfort.
I then fly all the kids, have lunch with all, and take one kid
with me when I head back to home field.
Just as I was about to touch down at my home field with a
somewhat narrow runway (S44 Spanaway 20' wide), I spotted a dog right in the
center of the runway just in front of me. I had just enough energy to balloon
over the dog and touch down beyond him. I suspect I gave it a crew cut. I
had visions of dog gore and engine tear down due to a prop strike--perhaps even
a folded nose gear if I hit it just right.
As I taxied to my hanger I spotted my wife arriving. As soon
as I stopped, she informed me that not only did I almost make a dog burger, that
the dog ran out to "greet" the next plane to land.
I parked and went down to confront the owner who was helping
load a race car into a trailer. (Yeah I know at an airport---a race car!!!--but
it WAS fashioned from an F-104).
After a few words with all present, the dog's owner saw
the error of his ways and locked the dog up---AND I didn't get my butt kicked by
the three guys loading the F-104 racer)
Sometimes the lack of common sense of people astounds me. (Yes
these guys were pilots who fly out of the field)
Cheers:
Paul
NC2273H
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