Our little family takes to the skies in the DC-3. RELATED STORIES Essential Advice Welcome Spontaneity

Dudley loved flying and we were grateful to meet so many dog lovers.

Plane travel for dogs (and their owners) is usually an ordeal at best. Big dogs have to be secured in crates and stuffed in baggage (at costs ranging in the hundreds of dollars) while their owners, worried sick about their best friends, sit cramped up in coach. Small dogs get stuffed in carriers, paraded through the airport and shoved under the seat, while their owners lose all their leg room and hope their best friends don't get sick all over their shoes.

Regrettably, we've had to travel by plane with Dudley. At first, we tried the carrier-under-the-seat route. Dudley only weighs 20 pounds, so he meets the maximum carry-on weight requirement. His legs, however, are a little long, and he can't fully stand up or turn around in an under-the-seat carrier. So, into a big crate and into baggage he goes. We hate this. We worry ourselves sick about him and we know that he hates it too.

At the Greeneville Fly-In, however, we had a tantalizing glimpse at what the world could be like if only everyone loved dogs as much as we do. Dudley was allowed to take a flight with us in the DC-3 — no carrier, no extra charge, not even a leash. He sat on Emily's lap for the entire flight and even stood up to look out the window at the ground zooming by below. It was kind of like riding in Murray.