Last Year: https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2017/12/25/merry-christmas-to-the-sea-turtles/
This year: We helped 60 sea turtles make their way from frigid Cape Cod to warm Panama City, Florida. Some photos:
Merry Christmas to everyone!
[Credits: Rectrix at KBED and Sheltair at KECP both provided superb support for loading and unloading. Turtles Fly Too and Kate Sampson of NOAA coordinated everything. Tradewind Aviation‘s superb maintenance and dispatch crew made sure that the Pilatus PC-12 was ready to go. Air Traffic Control gave the turtles a VIP direct clearance at FL220. The New England Aquarium did the initial rehab for the cold-stunned turtles. Gulf World in Panama City continued the rehab and also gave us an awesome tour of their facility (there was minimal damage to Panama City beach from Hurricane Michael, though it was a different story just 10 miles east). ]
It is indeed a different story in the towns to the east. We just collected a total loss on our insurance and moved to our third temporary residence, and still haven’t decided whether to repair or demolish our home. The devastation is unbelievable unless seen in person, and the event was seemingly forgotten in the news after a couple of days. The authorities are mulching prime long leaf pine timber, while I need three trusses to start repairing the roof.
@ the other Donald: why would would you even consider rebuilding with timber sticks when storm-proof ICF construction costs, at most, +10% more? Didn’t you ever read the fairy tale “The Three Little Pigs”?
Bill, I too am a fan of ICF, what do you recommend for supporting a roof in a hurricane zone? Steel trusses with SIPs?
Hi Philip: Wonderful work on behalf of the sea turtles! I live on an NC island that is an important nesting site for loggerheads. I haven’t heard of a need for transporting them from this area. However, we also have a bird rescue project that does have a need for transporting birds, and I’ve volunteered to use my Columbia 400 for those purposes.
I’ve also done many dog-rescue flights, and was interested by your mention of ATC having given you a direct clearance. Could you describe how you went about arranging it? A note in the Remarks section when filing, perhaps?
Mark: That’s right! We just put “sea turtle rescue” in the remarks when filing and were told “cleared direct” by Hanscom Ground/Clearance as we taxied out.
Thanks, Philip: I’ll try that next time I’m IFR on a rescue flight!
Phil,
How did you make it sure the turtles were all of the right race and sexual orientation? (Please remember there are some good races and some bad, i.e., racist, races).
I am confident you are not a racist or a sexist Phil, but how did you manage?
billg, at my age (80) we’ll be building for the next owner and most buyers don’t want premium or exotic construction. Our house was doing well structurally in approx 125 mph wind until it was scythed by an 80 foot pine. Homes built to current wind codes did fine unless damaged by trees or debris from adjacent buildings. Unfortunately our town had a dense tree canopy that had not experienced 100+ mph winds for decades. Many marginal commercial buildings and expansive private buildings like churches just blew up.
Tyndall AFB lost $3 Billion worth of F-22’s (about 20 at $150 million each) that were under maintenance and not flyable, housed in WWII vintage hangars. The 9-mile-wide eye with 190 mph winds passed directly over the base.