A typical active day for us would involve upto three aircraft each dropping around 16 jumpers and doing around 25-30 lifts each aircraft. At a competition which in the summer is every weekend you can expect much higher numbers. We also have aircraft that come down faster than 7,000fpm.
We fly every single droppable day from Feb through to December (when we then get our muc deserved holiday!) and remember the requirement is for the Jump master to see the ground and have a ceiling higher than minimimum pop height. This means that we are climbing and descending through cloud most of the time as well.
I have some great pictures of our SET aircraft descending with the jumpers in free fall right next to them and then being airborne again with the next load before the previous canopies are even on the ground.
Don't underestimate the pace of commercial parachute operations and the sheer volume of flying going on. Assuming that the drop aircraft is still at the top or somewhere high does not give you mcuh time. It is also means that jumpers are already in freefall and you have to remember that we do not drop them over the DZ as we have to account for wind to ensure that when they actually pop the canopy they can got back to the spot. It is not uncommon to drop a tandem over 2 miles from the DZ. Then you have tracking groups and the wing suit flyers.
This is the reason why we issue NOTAM on the activity to give you the information needed to plan wisely. Also don't be afraid to talk to the DZ, generally speaking one of the pilots will respond and tell you whats going on. You will find that we are a very sociable bunch!!
Last edited by S-Works; 3rd Sep 2012 at 09:44.