PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - FI - Cost, time and qualifications involved
Old 16th October 2006 | 09:51
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unfazed
 
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 412
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From: essex
MCSUNNY

With regard to the jump pilot element

You will find a bit of a catch 22 situation

When you have PPL and a few hours under your belt you will most likely be told (like I was) that you don't have enough experience (I was told that by a PPL owner of a parachute school who flew the aircraft and had less experience than I did at the time)...you will also hear that you should be IMC/IR rated as that is a practical requirement (most drops are fairly high so flying in or through cloud is a practical safety requirement.


When you get these qualifications and experience you will probably have more flying opportunities and may well rethink your desire to fly up and down drop's anyway.

Schools employ crews from other JAR countries now (for various reasons but one must be cost). Many organisations take quite a cut of the charity sponsorship that is raised by the jumpers (quite commonly flown on a charity basis but after all the "expenses" are taken out the charity gets the crumbs). So we have a scenario where the unpaid low hours PPL may well be flying first time jumpers on a charity jump with the jump school making a tidy profit. (would appear to be a commercial venture in all but name).

Suggest you have a look at AAIB report on a jump plane crash in Somerset a couple of seasons back. Jump flyers are often working under commercial pressures of the jump school and will be flying in often "marginal" conditions for low or no pay.
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