Michael Schneider and Pilots to the Rescue

Michael Schneider, Daniel Baumel, and another volunteer

Pilots To The Rescue was founded in 2015 and coordinates with rescue and adoption facilities across the country to find space for dogs and cats who have been abandoned or returned to animal shelters by their previous owners.

For most of its history, the group has relied upon a fleet of Piper Cherokee PA-32s to transport animals. Moving from a single-engine piston to a turboprop is a big step, and the capability gained means something different for every operation. The move to a Kodiak 100 has allowed Pilots To The Rescue to fly even more rescue animals than before. To date, they have saved the lives of over 4,500 animals.

As the organization’s mission expanded, going from flying 17 animals during its first year to just over a thousand in 2023, Michael Schneider, its co-founder and executive director, began searching for a way to upgrade their aerial capabilities. Speed, payload, range, and operating costs were important considerations, but cargo area size was perhaps the most important, as the PA-32 was only able to carry about ten dogs per flight. Dispatchability was also at the forefront of Schneider’s mind, as well.

“Last year, we had a horrific year of maintenance. We had three PA-32s, and they were on the ground more than they were in the air,” Schneider said. “With the aircraft, it’s recommended that oil changes be done every 25 hours, and that’s part of the reason we had three airplanes. If one was down for an oil change, and another was down for an alternator or blown engine, then we would still have one to fly – and we were flying close to 500 hours per year. We had a lot of difficulty trying to keep those pistons up and running, so I really wanted to get a turbine aircraft.”

Such an aircraft was out of reach until a private donor generously provided a two-million-dollar contribution, which allowed the group to really expand its wings. There were several models Schneider considered, but he quickly gravitated to one particular turbine powered option.

“Why did we choose the Kodiak? Well, I was looking at Caravans, and that’s the first thought everybody has when you think of a single-engine turboprop with lots of room in the back. But I noticed that they were at a pretty high premium in the used market, around half a million to a million more than the Kodiak. Someone had suggested that I take a look at the Kodiak, which has a lot of great things about it. And one of the best points about the airplane for us is that we could actually fit it in our existing t-hangar,” he said.

“So, we decided to go that route, and somebody suggested that we work with ‘Mr. Kodiak’ himself, Mark Brown, for the acquisition. We managed to find a plane that, while it had some risks associated with it, we were willing to take a calculated risk and went with it. And boy was it worth it.”

According to Schneider, their aircraft (serial 98, manufactured in 2013) had spent most of its life in China. A businessman there had purchased several new aircraft from the factory but went bankrupt, and the aircraft sat untouched on the ramp for ten years.

“Then they were imported back to the United States and refurbished. If the factory didn’t do the work, I wouldn’t touch them, but they were refurbished from tip to tail,” he explained. “The work included a light engine overhaul at Covington. Outside of needing a paint job, the plane was in excellent condition. There was some heartache with the acquisition, as well as some delays and costs we weren’t expecting. But in the end, you can’t really tell the difference between our plane and a brand-new Kodiak.”

Pilots To The Rescue is based at Essex County Airport (KCDW) in Caldwell, New Jersey, and the reach of their rescue flights has been growing thanks to the new aircraft. They have flown more than 400 hours since starting to actively fly the aircraft in October and expect to log more than double that by year’s end.

“We are now going further than we did before. The plane’s not much faster than the PA-32 was, but we have been going further and doing overnights for certain rescue groups. So, at this point, I would say our operation is east of Texas and really focuses on the East Coast – especially in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee. A lot of times, people will meet us somewhere, and then we will fly the animals the rest of the way, and we have four ground transport vehicles. They have become an integral part of our organization just because it’s a drop in the bucket cost-wise. We could buy 40 used sprinter vans for the cost of a Kodiak,” Schneider said.

“There is no shortage of animals to rescue, and the Kodiak has been a game changer for us. For one, in the PA-32, we were limited to ten or so crates of carrying sizes, whereas in the Kodiak, we can carry nearly twice as many. The game of Tetris, moving crates in and out, is a lot easier with the huge baggage door, and we are now able to stack crates two by two. The extra space is a big change for us and has made everything so much easier, and it also allows us to bring along another passenger or two to help out during the flight.”

It truly ‘takes a village’ with reducing animals, and Pilots To The Rescue has hundreds of volunteers they lean on to make their mission successful. Everyone who flies for the group is a volunteer, and there are about ten pilots currently insured on and actively flying the Kodiak.

An example of the organization’s work is a flight that Schneider completed alongside volunteer co-pilot Baumel and a reporter on June 7th. They transported 23 dogs and seven cats (523 pounds in total) from KCDW to KCRE in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and back.

As Schneider flies the Kodiak more, he becomes more and more enamored with the aircraft. He believes it competes very well against other similar aircraft.

“I will say that the Kodiak next to the Caravan is a better performing aircraft, just with the simple fact that it was certificated in the early 2000s, versus the Caravan, which was certified in the 80s. And the Caravan was originally designed to carry pallets and packages, whereas the Kodiak is really a modern-day bush plane,” he began.

“And the way that the wing is designed, you can be in a full stall and still have full aileron control. When Mark showed me that on our demo flight, I was surprised. It defied logic, right? Because every plane you’ve been in during a stall, you aren’t going to be turning, and it would be going into a spin. The Kodiak is built really well, and I think it’s really underrated. I do understand, though, why a lot of operations want to get into a Caravan, and there’s certainly way more of them out there. I would imagine parts and services are a little easier to come by, although the Kodiak is not a hard plane to work on. It’s just that sometimes you have to be patient with getting certain tools for repairs and stuff like that.”

The group estimates an hourly cost of around $750, accounting for an engine reserve. Flying Part 91, they hope to get 5,000 hours out of the PT6A-34 and are actively pursuing a fleet expansion.

“We are halfway to purchasing a second one [Kodiak]. Having another plane adds to redundancies, since AOG events and annual inspections happen. It also cuts down on fatigue and the necessary need for overnights for pilots if we can place a second plane somewhere down south. The trips could be done all in one day, switching the animals between the two, as opposed to flying all the way down and coming back the next day,” he said.

“It’s an expensive asset, with fuel, maintenance, insurance, and everything else, but it is worth it. The reason why we are being cautious is that we don’t want to be aircraft-rich and reserve-cash-poor. But when the timing is right, we are going to another Kodiak. Who knows when that will happen; you never know, there are some very generous people out there.”