During my recent spin testing of a Cessna Caravan, I attained descent rates as high as 9200 feet per minute! (but not for long).
I've had some high rates of descent in a Caravan while dropping jumpers, but it's after the drop and not in a spin. That occurred on a downwind to the runway at 18,000'. By unloading the wings and configuring for landing, letting the nose fall through to the vertical, and then respecting the door speed on the way down, a traffic pattern from 18,000' was very doable.
During the initial spin entry or at the incipient spin stage the descent rate is generally high. In a steady-state spin, especially as the spin flattens or passes through flat rotations, the descent rate isn't very high. The first rotation for many airplanes can eat up several hundred feet to a thousand feet, but after that the descent rate isn't usually very high at all.
The problem in a spin is exiting; the airplane is both yawing and rolling in a coupled motion, and typically is oscillating in pitch, or varying in pitch, as well. Getting out during that action may prove difficult, especially if complex exit requirements exist. Standing during the spin, or turning, working a door, squeezing out the door, etc, may be a problem.
Quick question here: are glider chutes the spring loaded type, like reserves are? I've done a few hours gliding but never paid much attention to the chute (my vague recollection is that they were the spring loaded drogue type).
It's called a spring-assisted pilot chute, and the answer is yes. The spring assist is necessary for two reasons. One is to get the pilot chute out of the pack container as quickly as possible and get it working as early as possible (because nothing is going to happen until the pilot chute is inflated and removes the parachute canopy from it's container for inflation). The other reason it's spring loaded it to get it away from the user. Particularly in stable freefall, a "dead air" space exists near the jumper. A non-assisted pilot chute can lay in that burble and never inflate. The same can be true of a spring assisted pilot chute on occasion; if nothing happens after pulling the ripcord, one may want to check over one's shoulder, spill some air behind one's back, and see if that doesn't pull the pilot chute clear. I've seen them pop and then lay on my back before, without extending the bridle or removing the pack off the container.
The spring-assisted pilot chute still stands the greatest chance of getting clear of you and getting good air, and getting open. Spring assisted pilot chutes are also used on most all sport and military reserve parachutes. They can work fast enough that following a cut-away of the main parachute the reserve can be open nearly right away.
S3, I learnt as much as I could about skydiving without actually jumping.
Most DZ's where I've been won't allow someone to pack who doesn't jump. I worked part time at a drop zone years ago, packing at night and turning wrenches on the aircraft. I hadn't jumped in several years. One afternoon during a busy pack session with a lot of tandems and students, one of the riggers stood up and pointed his finger at me. "We don't trust people packing who don't jump." He said.
As I stood, he tossed a rig at me, nearly knocking me over. He told me to put it on and go get on the next load, which was just starting up. I did. He met me at the landing site, which was away from the airport. He drove me back to the airport, gave me another rig, and said "go do it again." After that, nobody said another word.
It's unusual for someone to pack who doesn't jump. I've never actually encountered it, in fact. Interesting.
Given that, I do not consider myself a whuffo; rather an enthusiest.
Whuffo's aren't people who don't jump; they're people who don't understand jumping. You're not a whuffo.