Meatbombers - they are their own worst enemy

[58driver]

The parachuting fraternity dosent really do themselves any favours do they!! Had some dramas with a mob in the north west on the weekend, trying to pinch fuel again. Where does it stop, these people are constantly shooting themselves in the foot. Is it any wonder that the people in the GA industry consider these people to be nothing but scum. I really feel for the few jump operators that do the right thing and for the jumpers that really enjoy their sport. But time and time again we see jump operators exploiting pilots, flying u/s aircraft, stealing fuel, dropping and flying through cloud etc..... it's unfortunate for those taht do the right thing

[Tiger 77]

What airport were they stealing the fuel from? I have a feeling I know who you're talking about...

[58driver]

The air field is just outside the YPKA MBZ. not a nice bloke if you know who im talkin about!!

[Islander Jock]

58driver,
check your PMs and get back to me.

regards

IJ

[Time Bomb Ted]

Stealing fuel from where? Aircraft or drums? Either way, lives have been lost by this practice. Inform the Federal Coppers & expose them here for a start so then we can be on the lookout if we have to share the air with these crims....

TBT

[Tiger 77]

Yep thats who I thought it was...

He's the only meatbombing operator around NW WA so it wouldn't be too difficult to guess who we're talking about. Wish CASA could go and have a look since he's suppose to be real dodgy.

[Lando Calrissian]

Surely when you don't bother fixing your U/S aircraft, and the only thing you pay the pilot with is abuse and contempt things would be looking up financially?

[Azimuth]

If its the same guy I'm thinking of, he wanted me to pay him for the privilige of flying his U/S 182.........

[Onthegear]

CASA wont do anything, Skydiving ops have no AOC so CASA don't give a brass rarzoo !

[gadgetguru]

I took 12 months LWOP from the Army & managed to get myself a job as a Parachute Rigger, got a chute once , that belonged to the operator of a DZ, owned the airfield, plane, etc.

anyway this chute was in such a bad way, i mean i've seen ancient parchments that had more integrity than this rig. there was so much masking tape over the rips, i couldn't tell where the canopy started & the tape stopped.... i thought my boss had given it to me to salvage any bits & pieces for patches, when he said "no - fix it" i politely asked him if he was kidding, then where would he like me to start, because i simply couldn't tell

this guy was well known for completing a jump, & rather than packing his chute properly missing a run (waiting for the next one like everyone else), he would stuff it in a garbage bag (& i mean stuff it in), tuck the bag under his arm, jump back in the plane & simply toss the bag over his shoulder as he exited the A/C.

Some of the jumpers (particularly instructors) whom voiced their concerns over his activities in front of junior members of the club got chewed out.
if he was every pulled up for it, he would simply spit the dummy, take his bat & ball (A/C) & go home. leaving everyone at the DZ with blue skies, big canopies & bugger all else to do.

i had the good fortune of doing a few jumps under a couple of Para Rescue Jumpers from the (then) recently disbanded NSCA, i was still military back then & it was good to train with some other motivated professionals. They also advised me to be wary of where i chose to jump, knowing that i was likely to be posted all over the shop, & might run into some nidgets.

[VRB03KT CAVOK]

That makes you wonder about the condition of his aircraft....

:uhoh: Terrifying thought. :uhoh:

[Ultralights]

I won a Tandem jump a loooong time ago, i will not mention who with, but some time during the ascent, i was actually glad to be getting out of that aircraft ASAP, (before it landed)

[Wizofoz]

gadgetguru,

As a former Skydiving Instructor, I find your story highly implausible.

For starters, the whole point of Skydiving is free-fall, not possible if your boss simply "Threw the bag" out on exit.

Secondly, the absolute worst nightmare scenario whilst jumping is a parachute open in the aircraft and escaping out the door. The rule is either follow it out the door, or follow it through the hole in the aircraft your body will make as the opening parachute drags you out. Any pilot who allowed what you describe should a) loose his license and b) have his head examined.

I saw my share of irresponsible behaviour in my time jumping, and went to five funerals from memory, but anyone doing what you described would face a long grounding any permanent cancellation of any instructor ratings.

As to the military being "Motivated Professionals", I cringed on more than one occasion watching the Red Berets (Known around jumping circles as the Red Faces) do there amateurish displays, like the time they spread themselves all over the CBD while aiming for sentential park. The experience amongst military jumpers is usually around 1/10th that of a civilian counterpart (I'd never been on a display with anyone with less than 500 jumps on Ram-airs), but there arrogance levels usually make up for it.

[gadgetguru]

Wiz

a couple of things

it may not appear clear in my previous entry, but the DZ guy & my boss are 2 very different people.

my boss was & still is one of the most pedantic characters i have ever met, & is still one of the best master riggers in Oz

the other peanut (DZ-bloke) i never saw again, nor did i want to, the only reason he had bought his chute in was because different parts of the masking tape was sticking to other areas of the canopy on deployment.

nor did i infer that you necessarily had to be in the miltary's parachuting fraternity to be a motivated professional, i too saw some very ordinary para demos, & saw some pretty average soldiering by (some of ) the airborne cannon-fodder/glory-hounds but also some exceptional & selfless traits portrayed by many, both in & out of (anything to do with) airborne.

there is good & bad in all walks of life, but in the Australian Military, all of which is populated by volunteers, some patriots, some operators, some glory hounds, also some wannabes, some dole dogers.

The majority of these individuals though are well trained, motivated & professional. What you will find is some exceptional people doing extra-ordinary things every day & carry on in their thankless tasks.

proof of the pudding is when military personnel are snapped up by employers who will grab at anyone with any sense of discipline in todays society

As for the Red Berets (Maroon in truth), & their arrogance, anyone who didn't wear a green beret (or a sandy one) didn't rate a mention in my book anyway (how's that for arrogance!) ;)

for the first 5 years of my service, I was a parchutist volunteer, should the call have come & i was needed, i would have gone to jump school. Having spent 12 months as a (civilian) rigger, & looking at what it was, massively overweight, round chutes, high stress etc. I very quickly removed my name from parachutist volunteer on my return. I never did make a military jump, a opportunity I'm now glad i missed out on.

as for the over the bag trick, my boss(es) told me about it, having seen it happen, one of whom was a regular judge at the Oz Nationals. I didn't see it, nor did i want to, so i didn't want to know what his exact technique for gross stupidity was...:uhoh:

i do believe he would exit with it under his arm, then once clear of the aircraft give it the flick, any pilot who was in his aircraft (usually pimply faced youths trying desperately to clock up hours) did what they were told (by him) or didn't get to fly his plane again.

[NAMPS]

I cringed on more than one occasion watching the Red Berets (Known around jumping circles as the Red Faces)

I would cringe too!!!

I didn't know the Military Police had it in 'em to jump out of a/c!!!

Unless it was the lads from 1 MP Coy :ok:

[bigfella5]

MMMMMMMMM.........I used to dream pleasant dreams of Red Beret'd MP nitwits jumping out of aircraft.........don't seem to remember anything about parachutes though?:E

[Wizofoz]

gadget guru,

Thanks for the clarifications, and I'm sorry if I seemed techy, but while even I acknowledge that some pretty ordinary things go on in the jumping world, I get a little tired of the depiction of the whole sport as a lot of dangerous weirdos. 1200 jumps on, I had a total of one grazed elbow and a slightly twisted ankle, had some of the most fantastic experiences, made life-long friends, "War-stories" to see me into my dotage and memories that are worth gold.

What makes me giggle, however, is that a lot of the most vehement critics are people involved in... General aviation in Australia! Again a sector with many fine people and concientious operators- And plenty of shonky dangerous rouges!!!

Glass Houses?