Hey Vagabond!

There is a place in Shelton too.....don't know how it is but I'm always dodging jumpers when I'm flying out there.

BTW, how is your training going? I start my instrument/commercial next week.

MHM

 

MHM, so good to hear from you! Instrument/commercial next week, eh? You are far and away ahead of me; I've been busy holding hearings instead.

Let's see if you, me and Paul can skydive. I'll jump out of a plane .... after you two go first.

 

Never grasped the logic of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Pitiful excuse for not going Airborne Ranger when offered.


Wound up sitting in a tank setting off REALLY BIG firecrackers instead.

 

[QUOTE=11Fan;163960][COLOR=#000080]Never grasped the logic of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

This is what I'm thinking!!!!!! I dunno, maybe one day, but something better be wrong with the airplane!

 

O ye of little faith!

 

I was somewhat concerned when I first started flying jumpers when they would open the door on jump run and the airplane would yaw around as the guys released their grip on the right strut and fell off. There is also a big forward CG shift when this happens. You are sitting in there with no more than a loose grasp on a seatbelt which I doubt would hold you in if there was a serious bank or pitch. But after ten or so of these you realize the danger is less than riding along in a typical car. It's just a lot of speed, height, and noise to get used to. Especially noise, the sound of air rushing past the airplane at 150 mph is deafening.

I still get a rise out of doing a 60 degree bank to the right at 115 mph- you can look straight down from two miles up at the ground way below you coming up through the plexiglas. There again it is just the appearance of danger, as the g force pinning you to your seat at that angle would remove any possibility of falling down through the door, but it looks cool. One of the planes has a speed brake, it drops like a rock.

 

Vagabond,

It was faith which placed me in that aluminum tube in the first place.

 

Ok, that's it, I don't think I'll be skydiving anytime soon.

This happened today in Montana. My sympathies to their families.

MARION, Mont. — A plane crash killed five members of a group of skydivers Saturday in northwestern Montana, the Flathead County sheriff said.

The crash happened late Saturday morning in a field about 30 miles southwest of Kalispell, in an area known as Lost Prairie, Sheriff Mike Meehan said. The Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle said the plane went down shortly after takeoff, then burned.

The pilot of the Cessna 182 operated by Skydive Lost Prairie was carrying two skydiving instructors and two trainees to jumps, said Michael Morrill, a manager of the company. He said the plane took off in good weather.

He said the pilot began working for Sky Dive Lost Prairie about 10 days ago and was experienced, with more than 500 hours of flying time. He had a commercial rating, Morrill said.

The skydivers were heading off to tandem jumps in which trainees are attached to instructors, who control the parachute that carries both people to the ground, Morrill said. The parachutists were to fly for about 30 minutes, free fall for 30 seconds or so and then have a 5-minute "canopy ride" to the ground, Morrill said.

Skydiving is a relatively small sport in the state, with perhaps 60 or 70 people who are experienced jumpers, said Tina Sanders of Skydive Montana, another business that offers jumps. She said the aficionados are a close-knit group and another skydiver called her about 15 minutes after the crash happened.

 

Vagabond, first of all, Congratulations on your 20th! I'd love to, but I'm afraid of heights. Seriously. My bride did it a about 20 years ago in Issaquah and I couldn't even look up to watch her.
fbh

 

Mine too. It's a terrible tragedy.

Although this does not indicate the cause to be tied with the skydiving, it probably was and I would wager fuel starvation. Just speculating, but since it is desirable to carry only enough fuel for a single, 40 minute jumping run, refueling is a fussy business. At my operation we add just enough fuel to do a single run, 9 or 14 gallons depending on height of jump, plus a 30 minute reserve. It does happen in many thousands of missions in the country a weary pilot will takeoff without remembering to fuel up as the task can be repeated so many times in a day, not catch it before becoming airborne, not have fuel in reserve to return to the airport, plus have no place to put down on soft ground. That's a lot of if's, but it happens.

A smart, experienced skydiver will look up and check the wing gages even if they trust the pilot.

I do not have the list of facts with me but I occasionally research accident rates for skydiving and they are low as a sport. Fuel starvation and entanglement with the aircraft are the biggest causes, followed by parachute failure, but accidents are surprisingly rare. Maybe ten deaths per year. This across hundreds of skydiving outfits performing thousands of runs per year apiece. It is not a dangerous sport; the old adage driving is more dangerous than flying still applies.

I hope you will do some research to satisfy yourself of this and reconsider coming for a tandem jump on your next anniversary. It really is a great activity. Gather more information to allay your fears.

I saw this tag painted on the tail of an airplane yesterday if memory serves:
"By avoiding risks we may not lose our life but we shall accept risks so we shall not lose life itself."