Skydivers?

[RiddlePilot]

Apologies if this has already been brought up, but anyone know the usual qualifications for flying skydivers? I'm somewhat interested in this for income this summer, since Cottonwood (about 30 miles east of Prescott) is chock full of them. Thanks.

[EatSleepFly]

Your best bet is to find a dropzone that flies something along the lines of a 182 or 206.

Anything multi/turbine will require just as many hours as flying charter, etc. because of insurance.

I would go and visit each individual dropzone in person and take your resume.

Oh yeah, and if you get hired, for the love of God, do a few jumps or even get certified. You'll have to wear a chute yourself if flying a single engine, so you might as well know how to use it, otherwise its useless.

Good luck!

[cimepilot]

why does the pilot have to wear a chute?

[gomntwins]

Please post on here the results of your job search. If you find a plethora of job openings that'd be wonderful-- flyin' sky divers for a summer is something that appeals to me also... and I imagine jumping out of a plane would really be a stupefying experience

[EatSleepFly]

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why does the pilot have to wear a chute?

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You know, now that you ask, I don't know where I got that. I could've sworn it was in the FAR's, but I don't see it. Must be an individual DZ thing.

[Horned_Frog_Flyer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
why does the pilot have to wear a chute?

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You know, now that you ask, I don't know where I got that. I could've sworn it was in the FAR's, but I don't see it. Must be an individual DZ thing.

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I believe this only applies if flying with a door removed, as is usually required on small planes.

[davidhigbie]

A buddy of mine flies jumpers...apparently its in case one of the jumpers hits the tail section. He tells me this as I am sitting in the right seat next to him at 13,000 and the green light is just about to go on....oh yeah, I didnt have a chute! I was watching them go out the door a little more intently after hearing that.

[Citationkid]

Flew over to a DZ the other day that has a Twotter and the pilot was telling us about a guy that had his chute open up in the aircraft go out the door and he went right through the side of the fusaladge. Nothing was left on the right side of the aircraft cabin except the door colum. Of course he was killed and (I would guess) the plane crashed.

As for requirments the local place was asking for 500tt and 25 HP for a 182.

[RiddlePilot]

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As for requirments the local place was asking for 500tt and 25 HP for a 182.

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That's a little steep for an ink-wet commercial pilot with 230 total. Oh well.

[USMCmech]

I flew jumpers last summer and had a blast. It gets repetitive, but it is good experience. Max gross take off. Fly a precise profile to altitude. High speed descent, and (for me at least) a crosswind landing.

The pilots parachute is there incase one of the jumpers chutes deploys while in the door. It could (and has) wrapped around the tail. This could render the airplane uncontrollable. Soultion: please exit through the nearest exit.

My experiance was espesialy fun since it the DZ had it's own grass strip. Also the 67 (?) model C-182 only had a fuel line pick up in the rear of the tank. This causes the fuel lines to run dry during a steep descent. The first time this happened my heart went into my throat, after the 10th time I didn't even blink. I just continued my descent and made a power off landing, restarted the engine and taxied to the fuel pumps. Yes I did take off with enough fuel to make my intended flight with a 30 minute reserve, I just had to shake it around to use it.

Jumpers are a cool bunch. Not all there, but what do you expect. I intended to do a tandem, but never got around to it.

One last thing, DO NOT let anyone convince you to take off in an overloaded aircraft. The C-182 was only ever designed to carry 4 adults. Removeing the seats and some fuel allows an extra person to be cramed in, but just barely. One of the pilots at the DZ where I worked said he had no problem carrying five big guys, I said thanks, but no thanks. I don't need flight time bad enough to have an accident on my record, or be in the hospital.

[FlynLow]

Does anyone have the name of that school in Cottonwood? Maybe I could swing the job with 400 hours?

Thanks

Mark

[RiddlePilot]

How many hours didja have, mech?

[USMCmech]

I had 400 hrs at the time. I flew for about 100 hrs over last summer. I had to quit due to getting a "day job" flying a desk that requires me to work weekends. Also I was getting pressured to due things that were viloations of the FARs. Most of these DZs work on a shoestring budget and their main concern is getting as many loads in a day as possible. Rember as PIC it's your responsibilty if any thing goes wrong, not the jumpers, and not the DZ manager.

[av8trxx]

Most DZs that operate C182s or C206s look to hire in the late winter or early spring for the busy spring/summer season. Get over there ASAP if you want a chance, but it's almost June so they probably already have staff for the season. Depending on the insurance requirements for that DZ, you may get hired in at 300-400TT. I was hired at about 350 with out any HP time to fly a C182. I got about 700 hours flying jumpers. It was an awesome job. The airplanes at one DZ I worked were definatley NOT in the best shape, but they got the job done. Do a careful preflight if you become a jump pilot!

This site is a must for anyone getting into jump flying:
(It also has a page with Part 105 skydiving regs & Part 91 that applies to parachute ops.)

http://www.diverdriver.com/

Here's a good article about DZ ops:
http://www.avweb.com/news/atis/187075-1.html

One can find their closest DZ here-
http://www.uspa.org/

Jump pilots on the larger turbine equipment not near the exit aren't required to wear a 'rig' (parachute). Because of the proximity of the open door to the pilot (if it's even still on the aircraft) on C182s & C206s, wearing a rig is required on those jump planes. There is a reg for it, but I can't find it at the moment...

[RiddlePilot]

Wow, great info. I've decided I'm going to concentrate solely on my CFI/CFII/MEI this summer, which is going to take up a ton of time. I don't think I'd have time to get an outside job, even if I could meet the mins.

Thanks for the info anyways! Hope it helps someone else.