Originally Posted by
GTang
With regard to the Amsterdam conditions, it's not that much different to The st kilda ops if you think about it. Minimum cloud base for parachute ops is around 4000', above CTA. ATC controls traffic above that where parachutist might be in cloud. And do you think that if a plane was flying towards a tandem, the instructor won't steer away?
The minimum VFR requirements for flight visibility and distance from clouds are also applicable to the parachutist. The parachutist must understand the rules for the airspace classes in which the jump is planned.
For example: a jump from above Texel will pass, from top to bottom: Nieuw Milligen TMA A class B airspace, class E airspace and uncontrolled class G airspace. This means at the moment of the jump a required flight visibility of at least 8 km between FL 150 and 3500 ft AMSL, and at least 1.5 km visibility for landing. The minimum distance from clouds is successively 1500 m horizontally and 300 m vertically in class B and class E airspace, and free of clouds and with ground or water in sight in class G airspace.
So you have no issue with the JTTB tandems coming through cloud into G, yet the Netherlands require that their parachutists abide by the VFR requirements with minimum distance from cloud in CTA and clear of cloud OCTA, plus 8km vis at departure? Was there such conditions when the jump went a bit haywire yesterday?
Cattletruck, Bob's A109 went to Davey Jones' locker nearly 20 years ago. And I never landed for him to take a leak, although we did use the helipad at the St Kilda Marina. There's a significant difference between helicopters in transit descending from the cruise to land and a chute descending into a VFR route.
We'll have to agree to disagree. I expressed my reservations at RAPAC 3 years ago, and haven't seen a reason to change my mind. Especially since those same concerns are shared by operators with whom I chat at MB, with enough reports of incidents such that many have modified their routes to avoid the area to their disadvantage. In order that JTTB has a commercial advantage.