funkydreadlocks

Hi,

I have been looking at pilot jobs of all sorts, and to my horror, they all require horrendously high hours and qualifications (at least for me). We're talking minimum 1500 hours and class/type ratings minimum.

I'm studying my ATPLs and will eventually go through the whole shabang in a modular manner.

The deal is that I am in university and we happen to have a skydiving club. The airfield where the dropzone is apparently use this beautiful complex aircraft, so it got me thinking.

What are the minimum requirements to drop skydivers in the UK? I am currently the holder of a PPL and shy of 100h experience. A newbie, I know, but where else can I get experience? We have just enough to pay for all my courses so that I can fly professionally. There's no way I can afford to pay 1300h of hour building, even on a cub.

If I can drop skydivers with just a PPL I would then go ahead and talk to the pilot at the airfield. Apparently it's his plane and he is a volunteer, so there would be no legality problem about me being paid without CPL.

Opinions? Information. Help please!

SloppyJoe

You are taking a huge risk with money belonging to whoever "we" are. But that aside your best bet is to ask here.

UkSkydiver - UK Skydiving forum for all Skydivers

mad_jock

Nothing stopping you being a drop pilot.

But in general those sorts of jobs are networking only jobs. You can do it unpaid on a PPL. But there may be insurance issues with the aircraft that mean you can't.

Meat bombing aparently is quite good fun but hard work sometimes especially if the meat starts trying to be funny.

500 above

You cannot be paid on a PPL. Most volunteer drop pilots do it for free. Only the full time DP's usually draw a (very meagre) wage. 100 hours may be on the low side though.

And...

"It's his plane and he is a volunteer" If he is volunteering his time, what makes you think he will pay you?

cgwhitemonk11

There is no hourly limit in terms of hours they say you need, what you will come up against is the minimum hourly required by his insurance company. I can tell you from my own recent experience that if he allows anyone with less than 500 hours to fly his aircraft the premiums will most likely be twice as expensive, and depending on the aircraft type that could be up to 10,000 in the difference per plane.

As mentioned above networking is more important than the hours, I got the chance at my dropzone despite having under the minimums because I made an effort to fit in and get to know people, now I'm above the minimums and I don't have to fit in anymore! ha! sucks for them!

In all seriousness best of luck if you manage it but flying skydivers is not as easy as you may think, its lots of fun, the money sucks, the beer is frequent but the responsibilities are real. You will most likely deal with real weather for the first time. Also you have to make critical decisions in terms of 'should I go/stay'' or 'will I wait for a clearance or will I return to land with a full load on a now wet, short, grass runway with bad weather in borderline crosswinds'.

Go for it if you can, its a piece of cake in great weather, lucky we get such awesome summers in Northern Europe.....

funkydreadlocks

I wasn't being clear, sorry.

I don't actually expect to get paid, I meant from a legal point of view there wouldn't be any problems me working as I too would be a volunteer in that respect.

maxed-out

funky

Go visit a few dz's in your area and see what a/c they are using. Ideally you want to start on a c206 or GA 8 airvan. No dz will offer you a turbine role with your hours. Go and do a few jumps and mingle with the skydivers. Most jump pilots have or are current jumpers too. You need an IMC rating minimum for British drop zones and only a PPL.

good luck

funkydreadlocks

Thanks for info guys! this was very helpful!

Finals19

Funky,

All good advice - mingling and showing your face (and enthusiasm) is definitely the way to go. As already noted on this thread, sub 500hrs will probably cost the operator a lot extra in insurance premiums. Some may offset this by asking you to put a bit of cash towards your ticket (BPA certified skydive pilot permit).

Skydive piloting is a fairly ballsy thing to do. Running in at 80kts at FL100, trying to hold a straight line and control pitch while you have guys shifting around in the back is interesting to say the least. Weather wise - there may be a nice blue sky hole over the DZ, but all around might be multiple cloud layers, summer CU etc...punching through some of that in a small GA aircraft can concentrate the mind. A few DZ's tend to operate off fairly small grass strips too. Lots of pressure to get the job done (safely of course) so great experience if not challenging at times.

Best of luck and fly safe.