Jump pilot tips
 

Hi guys/ ladies,

I would like some hints on how to be a good jump pilot as I may be getting some extra hours with a respectful company.

Please...no smart arse up and down, round and round comments.

Cheers for your time in responding.

PA.:ok:

Paul

Good to see you have the chance of some hours. A few tips for you.

Dont be pushed into flying IMC to do a drop unless you and aircraft are endorsed, remember your licence was hard work to obtain.
Carry a good knife.
Do a jump or learn how to use the chute well.
If you are driving a 207 or sim dont let them hang around at the back to long.
If driving a 182 or sim and they wont let go relase the park brake and hit the power and they will normally go.
Get a spare set of a/c keys as some loopies think its a good joke with a new driver to pull the keys out and jump while you do a forced landing.
If they hook up your are pretty well had it so exit stage right.
Good luck and have fun.

CRIKEY!! :uhoh: Has this happened to you aerocom? Anyone else experienced it??

Thanks for the response aerocom.

It may seem kind of strange asking the boss for my own set of keys but according to your story, he may understand why?

Cheers,

PA

your the boss
 

Don't ever forget you are in command of all the decisions about when or weather you go,dont think that some operator who has nothing to loose is going to tell you or pressure you into anything,and if the cloud is broken they will say, oh we can go ,its crap ,even a good 206 with 6 meat bombs in it climds above 5 thousand at about 250 ft per min.Do not fly in cloud.after all the work we've put in dont let some **** screw it up for you.You'll see in probably a years time you will not have to worry about mixing with the real BOTTOM end of the industry to get ahead.Use them just like they are using you..Good luck you'll need some patience.RWS888:E

30 years or so since I last flew jump planes ... unless the jump fraternity has changed since then, they are an interesting and jovial mob ... good fun, needs to be disciplined flying and, if you try to do a good job in maximising reasonable profit for the operator, good training for a pilot in aircraft operation.

meat bombing
 

well most things seemed to be covered here. I must say sticking up for yourself and your choices and being confident in your descions (if it feels wrong, it genrally is) is very important in gaining there initial trust, confidence and respect in you. Once you have that its a breeze.
Once you have them onside, definately do a jump or two, not only will you have a ball but it will break down the whole pilot jumper barrier....

A couple of other poiinters that pulled me through were

1. Always shout the bar after doing something major for the first time (1st jump etc)

2. I lernt to pack parachutes... good extra money ( sometimes earnt more than flying) and something to do between loads.

Good luck and blue skies ....

Jump Pilot Guide
 

Hi Paul

Good to see the hours ticking over for you. I fly meatbombs at the moment and I must say its some of the most enjoyable flying you will do. I have attached a link to the jump pilots guide released by Al McVinish through the Australian Parachute Federation. Also there is a good site called Diver Driver which details the correct way to handle various aircraft types.

Which DZ are you dropping at.

APF Jump Pilot Guide


Cheers

Ang ;)

Some great replies guys. Thank you so much. I just learnt that the potential (not guranteed yet) jump job had an accident yesterday. The Sunday Mail reported the 206 nose dived at the end of the runway after the pilot aborted take off.

Its great to see the company owner supporting the pilots decision in this case especially since its the first minor incident in 27 years - everyone was ok and the pilot was ambo trained so he got everyone out and checked them over.

The pilot wasnt confident with how the plane was handling prior to take off. Maybe someone may have time to track down the story for us - I have to get back to the real job now.

Cheers again folks.

PA:D

Paul, I had a couple of the guys joke about nicking off with the keys. I always responded without a smile that they had better free fall hard because I'd be doing my damndest to ram them on the way down if they did. They normally laughed until they worked that I wasn't and therefore wasn't kidding! :E

Havent had anyone pinch my keys, but have heard stories..

One thing I havent really seen mentioned is fuel.. Some operators will try to tell you how much fuel to take. just remember, if you run out of fuel and have to land in a paddock the operator is not going to take the blame.. You take as much fuel as you think you need.. then maybe some more.. haha

For example in the 206, I use to carry at least 40-50L in the left and wouldnt touch it. And use the Right tank for loads. That way if you should be caught out you always have some up your sleeve.
Despite what some people might say, I dont think it is necessary to do a weight balance before each and every sorty. However familirise yourself with the weight and balance for the aircraft.

But mainly enjoy it, can be fun.. Dont get pushed into doing anything you dont feel comfortable doing.
Make sure at the end of the day you take the time to have a beer with the others, some good stories and not all jumpers are d@#$heads..

Traps for young players
 

I would advise you to steer clear of all the usual drop zone politics and club committee back biting. This goes on at many clubs and should be left for the jumpers to enjoy. Concentrate on flying safe and accurate loads, ask advice when you have a concern and feel your way into it slowly. Many jumpers regard pilots as easy to replace but the smarter jumpers know the value of a reliable and savvy jump pilot. Be prepared to hear all sorts of random weird and obviously wrong advice as well as helpful tips from the better jumpers. I also suggest that you discipline yourself to avoid joining in with their occasional adrelaine (and other stimulant) soaked activities and fly safe regular loads. Be professional and safe but not uptight and they will love you. Most of all, enjoy yourself and you will learn lots about what light aeroplanes can actually do when treated right. You will certainly be a better pilot for the experience.

cheers :ok:

Well, I'm obviously a bit out of touch!...

In my day , flying jump seat was sitting in the cockpit in whatever seat was available and observing what the crew did!

Are you guys with it here? Or do you come from a strange planet?

Yeah!..I think you do!

Jeez Amos, If I didn't know differently I'd swear you were a cadet.:}
Sorry Keg, the Devil made me do it:E
____________________________
It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees:ok:

Nah Hugh, fair call! ;) Truth be known I've seen a few things over the last couple of years (both here and 'elsewhere') that explains what everyone was complaining about with respect to cadets four or five years ago when I first logged onto PPRUNE! :eek: :E

Thanks ginjockey, I appreciate your response.

amos2......I'm not sure where you are coming. We are talking about sky diving pilots..not the jump seat of an aircraft.

Maybe I just missed the joke...who knows!!!

I've just started a new thred on bird scaring advice and stories if any of you guys have done that!

PA:D

Another thing you can do is get the winds for them on the way up. Work out your TAS, plug it into the GPS, read off the winds and let them know for several different levels.

They will love you for it especially if you start noticing a consistent change in direction.

Don't forget to make it VERY clear when you are not cleared to jump due either traffic or ATC clearance.

The advice about carrying a nice sharp knife is sound. Around 2 years ago or so a young female pilot was put in the position of having to cut a Tandem free from her aircraft which got caught up and were unable to free themselves. All ended well, however it could have become very ugly indeed were they to stuck to the aircraft (especially given the limited reserves you are often required to take)

Jump flying if done correctly, can be a great way to reinforce and practice what you were trained to do without the pressure of an instructor watching you. Don't bother spending too much time in the caper though as you are unlikely to get paid enough, progress on to twins or gain the charter experience that you will no doubt need on your way to bigger any shinier aircraft.

Have fun.

G'day Paul,

I had the jokers take my keys and leave.

Funny men! Very funny. I laughed lots and lots and lots. NOT!

The lucky thing for me, it being an ageing 182, was that he didn't (in his haste) actually turn the mags to 'off'. He just pulled the keys directly out with the mags in 'both' and I was able to conduct a normal descent.

It just happened I'd been offered a job at a neighbouring flying school and was planning to resign that weekend.. so when I landed I calmly strolled up and quit and informed the chief jump instructor I would be contacting the police regarding attempted murder. ( a little over the top I know - but considering what the consequences could have been..)

The jumper in question was banned from the club.
I wanted to knock his block off but that would have made me the bad person.

Turns out all the other jumpers were horrified at his actions and were quite pleased to see him gone.

99% of them are good fellas/ladies.
cheers Ibol

Anyone seen the keys?
 

The stealing the of keys deal was always a chance among some of the more hard core and acid trippin' skydiver types. I actually made a casual mention over the bar that if it ever happened to me and I found myself trolling along without a functioning engine that I would simply point the old bird out towards the deserted area south of the field and jump out myself (wearing a jump pilot rig of course). That would leave me with a good long skydive to talk about and the bonus would be that the club would be without a jump aircraft forever more. Naturally the insurance company would receive a full report from me informing them of the events leading up to the crash. In all honesty, there was no way I would ever risk trying to force land a crapped out old cessna when I could have a comfy parachute ride back to earth.
Never heard any further mention of that trick for some reason.

cheers

Gin

geees Gin,
I would much rather land the plane than trust the pilots rig I had....or any other pilots rig for that matter. They are only going to pull the keys when you're at height surely, you'd probably have ten minutes to think about the approach!