Amateur meat bombing

[FishHead]

A question came up over a beer on the weekend...

I have a mate who is in to the bizarre ritual of throwing himself out of perfectly serviceable aircraft. He asked if I was able (with my high-falooting CPL) to hire an aircraft and take him up to perform said ritual...

My q - do you need a specific rating to do this? Do flying schools/clubs generally not allow their hire aircraft to be used in this way?
I'm not actually intending to try this (I feel like there is some essential training that I should probably undertake before considering it!), but I am curious as to what the go is from a formal sense...

VMT
FH

[Islander Jock]

G'day FishHead

You do not need a specific rating for PJE. Below is an extract of the Australian Parachute Federation (APF) Jump Pilot Manual which specifies what qualifications and experience you need to drop parachutists. The schedule at Appendix 3 refers to experience on type on higher performance aircraft qualifying for all lower performance types. This table only applies to Cessnas though. In a nutshell, if you have 10 hrs on a 182 then you can use anything from a C150 up to C182 for dropping. 10 hrs on a C210 covers the whole lot.


3.7. PILOT QUALIFICATIONS
3.7..1 An APF member must not make a parachute descent unless the descent is conducted from
an aircraft in which the pilot in command:
(a) is the holder of at least a private pilot licence, valid for that type of aircraft, which is
not endorsed with any condition limiting him or her to flying within a specified
distance from an aerodrome; and
(b) if the pilot in command is the holder of a parachutist certificate “D” or higher — he or
she has not less than 120 hours total aeronautical experience, of which not less than 70
hours must be as pilot in command; and
(c) if the pilot in command is not the holder of a parachutist certificate “D” or higher — he
or she has not less than 200 hours total aeronautical experience, of which not less than
100 hours must be as pilot in command or is the holder of at least a commercial pilot
licence valid for that type of aircraft; and
(d) has not less than 10 hours aeronautical experience as pilot in command of the aircraft
type from which the descent is made. For high-wing Cessna aeroplanes, time accrued
on the more complex types may be credited for the less complex types in accordance with Appendix 3

As for flying schools or clubs hiring aircraft to do meatbombing, that will depend on a couple of factors:
1. The aircraft being insured for PJE,
2. The aircraft having either an inflight door for PJE or door off approval supplement in the flight manual. and
3. The school or club being prepared to accept the increased wear and tear that comes with PJE ops.

Just to protect yourself a bit further, if your mate is going to ask you to drop him into a populous area, ie where the DZ is within 600m of any house or building, then ask to see a copy of his APF licence, display licence and approval for that display jump or jumps. (any jump under these conditions is classified as a display)

If he is going to jump into private land, ask also for a copy of the landholders permission.

Not saying saying that your friend would deliberately try and do something wrong but if one of the jumps goes pearshaped it will be you left answering the questions.

If you get the opportunity, give it a go as it is great experience:ok:

[Ang737]

What about a DZSO and ground support staff at the DZ...

[Lukeatme]

Also tell him no bottle throwing at dams, no far***g, please leave the keys in the ignition, do not bend the throttle as you climb out and if he misses the drop point you will not drive over to pick him up. Have done a bit of dropping over the years and yes it is fun only if you do not bend the rules way over!

[Cougar]

G'day FH,
A few suggestions from a friendly trash hauler:
1) chuck him out the bomb bay - he would sit quite nicely next to some Harps and would sound just as impressive when the TACCO gets to "live fire" him at a DZ
2) leave the para to us trash haulers.

IMHO, Fishhead, you have guts going into that side of things - good luck!!

[assasin]

Fish head if you have the correct approvals, please make sure you wear a rig & know how to use it. JUST IN CASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FishHead]

Thankyou all - I now feel suitably profesionally enlightened....

I dont really think I will actually do this for him, however if he does talk me into it, I would prob chat to some actual meatbombers first.

I think assasin has said the thing that will prevent me doing it... the thought of having to actually jump out myself has scared me too much!

Cougar - Unfortunately, I am pushing a pen at the moment, so not allowed near a proper aircraft (thankyou to the powers that be for the Gold Card though!). Oh, and we dont drop Harpoon's from the Bomb Bay - they tend to make the fuselage fire indicators come on (because the Harpoon engine fires up before it leaves the pylon - normally). The Bomb Bay gets reserved for Torpedoes, ASRKs, and beer (chilled nicely on arrival).
I am more than happy to leave dealing with grunters to you guys!

[Cougar]

There you go, i learn a new thing everyday!!

Gold card is nice... very nice...

[tinpis]

David Beach





Parachute


She would never have jumped alone and seeing
the world like an immense crevice she might
have abandoned the tandem jump if the
instructor hadn’t had Greek god genes. He
smiled at her reassuringly, she nodded
and they were off, her fear turned to delight
with the motorcycle which gravity
had given them. She approved his delay
in pulling the cord. Then she realised he
was pulling the cord. She’d picked Icarus
instead of a god. “Keep calm,” he yelled. Next,
more quietly, “Sorry.” She scanned the ground for
haystacks piled ten high. She looked up and caught
a glimpse of the plane, a mocking feather.

[CockpitJunkie]

From November 2005 when Part 61 is expected to become effective, you will need ot hold a specific flight authorisation to drop parachutists.

CASA have developed competency standards for it.

[maxspeed]

What islander j said is true , but as a pilot you are not boud by the APF, the APF jump pilots manual is not a leagal thing at all if you want to drop on private land, there is no CASA reqs either, so if you feel the urdge do it, I would suggest going down the channels of the APF because evan though they are parachutists there guidlines are very good with regaurds to pilot op's:cool: