What's the most used parachute drop aircraft in Australia?

[aileron_69]

Wanaka have a Cresco, ZK-ROK and pay pretty damn well. Mate of mine has done a bit for them and was pulling in around the 5-700 dollars a day mark on a good day. I think its about $12 per jumper or thereabouts.
Obviously thats not really a first job straight out of flight school kind of gig but it does show that there are a few operators who know how to get past the gorse in their pocket.

[D-J]

think its about $12 per jumper or thereabouts.

I think you'll find it's closer to $12 a load..... so maybe $120 a day & 500-700 for a good week

[the air up there]

around the 5-700 dollars a day mark on a good day.

I think its about $12 per jumper or thereabouts.

For that, I'll chuck in my job and take up meat bombing again. Surely wires have been crossed.

Imagine if every got paid $12 per head. That would be a decent pay, and pay would increase with size of the aircraft. It would be like a utopia, where rivers run with beer that doesn't give hangovers.

[Howard Hughes]

pulling in around the 5-700 dollars a day mark on a good day

If this were the case, people would be leaving the airlines and flocking to Wanaka!

[aileron_69]

Im serious, it IS around $12 a head, not per load. There is no mix up. Its not Australia where they shaft you senseless. These boys like to keep their staff a bit longer, and they do. That plane is flat out too so 500 a day isnt hard to make. Getting paid per head makes sense, you basically get paid a %age commission of the take.

[SM227]

$12 bucks is a pretty good commision then, i imagine they are charging around $30 per jump ticket? that doesnt leave much for operating costs and other wages, still cant believe it

[framer]

The truth lies somewhere in between.
The most I ever earnt in Taupo was $576 in one day.
It was $18 per load, not $12 per jumper.
This is only for a month or two in the busy season when you are flying non stop from sun up to sun down. But even in the off season pretty good money can be made.
Also, I have never flown in Wanaka so they may be slightly different and times may have changed a bit.
Framer

[aileron_69]

not $30 no, According to their website, its $395 for a 15000ft drop and $295 for a 12000ft drop. Not sure ho many tandems they take in the Cresco, 5 or 6 is it?? And around 20mins a load at a guess? that would be just shy of $6000 an hour based on 5 tandems a load, 3 loads and hour. Plenty of fat in the system to pay the pilot 12 bucks a head.


From what I have heard Wanaka are pretty much the best payers out there. I had heard the boys in Queenstown are on similar cash to the Taupo mob.

[framer]

i imagine they are charging around $30 per jump ticket?

Nah, it's not like in Ausi where its mostly fun jumpers, in NZ its 90% Tandems who are forking out big bucks for their experience of free fall.
It is still cheap for them though 'cause they are spending Euro's and pounds mostly.

[toolowtoofast]

There's no way it's $12/head. At 3 loads/hour, with a short load of even 3 paying customers per load, that's $100/hr.

Sorry mate but no skydive pilot is making that. A good few airline pilots make less than that per flying hour.

I could believe $3/paying customer/load or even $4/head, but not $12.

[framer]

Sorry mate but no skydive pilot is making that.

I don't know if they still are, but like I said, the most I ever made in one days flying jumpers in NZ was $576.

They treat you well also. Pilot makes all the appropriate calls on when to stop etc unlike in the Ausi outfits I worked for.

[aileron_69]

Why is $100 an hour to fly a cresco so out of the way? I get just over that in my 210 and I can assure you i didnt dream it up. I personally know a jump pilot who as there last summer who told me what he was getting and hes a no nonsense bloke, plus I had also heard the same figure earlier from another of their former pilots. Its a very busy commercial operation and thats just what they get.

[toolowtoofast]

Tandem masters run at $50-$60/load, but they have chutes to pack and look after, and they are the ones with the most to go wrong. I don't know what the cam/photo guys get - maybe a cut of the DVD/photos

[framer]

but they have chutes to pack

Not in Taupo they don't, that would be the job of the full time packers getting about $10 per chute....it's a slick operation that runs at a very fast pace. Thats how they can punch out close to 400 tandems between the 3 companies (one now) on the Taupo field in one day.

[the air up there]

Why is $100 an hour to fly a cresco so out of the way? I get just over that in my 210

Are we talking about a Cessna 210??

[aileron_69]

Are we talking about a Cessna 210

Indeed so, but no, not flying charter :-P

[toolowtoofast]

true - they do too.

[troppo]

I wouldn't have thought that there would be that many dumb people that would want to jump out of an aircraft

[knox]

$12 bucks per head in Wanaka - I too have heard the same and that was a couple of years ago too.
When I was dropping I was getting $25 and $35 per load, depending on type of flight, so I guess that means I was getting $12.50 and $17.50 per head


Knox

[Dick N. Cider]

Most used parachute aircraft?

VH ZVM - P750 seems to spend about 5 nanoseconds on the ground between drops any fine weekend in the Hunter. Then it flies bank runs all week. Pilot must get out and maintain between waypoints!