Riding on a biplane wing

[Bob_Church 7]

In this month's Parachutist story about incidents over the last year they talk about a Stearman taking off with two jumpers on the wing.
I've got a lot of biplane jumps but I'd never heard of anyone riding on the wing except of course during jump run.
Is this common? I've sort of thought about it, but not as something I'd really do. And I can't imagine it's legal.
Or did I read the article wrong?

[Tigerfly 0]

Well, I must be jumping at the wrong DZ!

Quote

I've always wanted to try wingwalking

[tkhayes 256]

That happened near here. Pilot got ripped over seat belt rules. It has been done MANY times over the years - I have heard of plenty of times people have done similar things. risky yes, with planning not necessarily dangerous but obvious there is some planning and things can go wrong. But yes, now a case of a seatbelt violation has been set as precedent that will get your pilot in trouble.

[gunpaq 1]

Bad idea all the way around. We did that at an air show back in the early 90's. A no show with the producer's jump aircraft so came up with a brilliant alternative - hitching a ride with the wing walking opening act. All went well but a very very bad idea being outside the cockpit not strapped in or on. We nearly ended up like the unfortunate jumper in Florida years later.

www.geronimoskydiving.com

[Phil1111 1,077]

I attempted it once but the wisdom of the pilot outweighed my naivety and the takeoff was aborted.

Nothing wrong with wingwalking on a biplane just save it for safe altitudes.

[Bob_Church 7]

Sorry, I thought it was in this month's issue. It's in the April 2017 issue, page 45.

[jimmytavino 16]

Bob_Church

In this month's Parachutist story about incidents over the last year they talk about a Stearman taking off with two jumpers on the wing.
I've got a lot of biplane jumps but I'd never heard of anyone riding on the wing except of course during jump run.
Is this common? I've sort of thought about it, but not as something I'd really do. And I can't imagine it's legal.
Or did I read the article wrong?

thanks for the reminder of this sad and unneeded event...
Anything from Take 0ff , til 1,500 feet is Serious business
Best Procedure????... as George Carlin once put it. "You Get ON the Air Plane,,,, I am getting IN the AirPlane "...

A Radial Engine Bi-Plane.... puts out Big time airflow... and at rotation speed would require Big Time MUSCLES.... in order to hold On....

bsbd

[Bob_Church 7]

I'm surprised at a pilot allowing this. I lose count of the number of times I get reminded "only step on the black strip" on every Stearman jump I make, sometimes two or three a day. There's no good reason to believe that if someone lost their grip they'd fall back and off the wing instead of through it.

[peek 20]

Bob_Church

In this month's Parachutist story about incidents over the last year they talk about a Stearman taking off with two jumpers on the wing.

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20160510X14942&key=1&queryId=08668b69-9d37-4d48-a00b-4fb479713dd9&pgno=6&pgsize=50

You read right.

[peek 20]

tkhayes

That happened near here.

Actually, the event mentioned in Parachutist happened in Kansas. See the link above. However, it is interesting that multiple instances of something like this continue to happen. Kind of a lack of knowledge about aerodynamics.

[tkhayes 256]

hey, they learned from the accident here by wearing some sort of restraint it would seem.

[Ron 10]

Bob_Church

There's no good reason to believe that if someone lost their grip they'd fall back and off the wing instead of through it.

There is plenty of reason to suspect they would not fall through the wing. Even grade A cotton is pretty damn tough and a person could step on fabric and not step through it... They might stretch the fabric, and stepping on a rib may cause damage to the rib, but I seriously doubt a person is going to fall through a wing.

Reference: I have owned 3 fabric aircraft.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[riggerrob 598]

Start with an airplane that climbed slowly when it was new, add a warm summer day, load near gross (errrr ..... perhaps ... maybe a few pounds over) add drag, then wonder why it won't climb????????

The one lesson learned was about "safety straps."
Both skydivers survived because they stayed with the plane.
In an earlier accident, rumour has it that the skydiver (riding outside the cockpit breathed too much carbon monoxide, lost consciousness, lost his grip and fell off too low to deploy a parachute.

Why do we keep repeating mistakes?
Aren't us old farts supposed to share our scars and scary stories with young skydivers to help them park from our mistakes?

[JellyBelly 0]

riggerrob

Why do we keep repeating mistakes? Aren't us old farts supposed to share our scars and scary stories with young skydivers to help them park from our mistakes?

The conundrum is that by the time the old farts have been around long enough to have gained wisdom, then the young folks think they're too old to be worth listening to. So the youngsters keep repeating the same mistakes which others have made in the past.

[fcajump 161]

Bob_Church

In this month's Parachutist story about incidents over the last year they talk about a Stearman taking off with two jumpers on the wing.
I've got a lot of biplane jumps but I'd never heard of anyone riding on the wing except of course during jump run.
Is this common? I've sort of thought about it, but not as something I'd really do. And I can't imagine it's legal.
Or did I read the article wrong?

I have jumped a Steaman bi-plane for a weekly airshow for 20+ years and in that time we have gone from one unbelted jumper in the front to one belted jumper in the front.

I have had planes loose power at 500', bumps on the runway that would shake our wingwalkers loose and aborted takeoffs that would NOT have gone well if we had anyone already on the wing(s).

I have heard of it, and will admit it tempted me in the early days. More jumpers available than aircraft, plenty of power and we climb-out, spot and (if necessary) hang-out there at altitude... so what's the problem.

As with most things, its NOT the normal situation that will cause you problems, its when you've already stacked the deck against you and then you have a "normal" problem.

Bottom line - VERY bad idea.

JW

PS - our wing walkers taxi/take-off in the cockpit. True, they do not stay there long after TO, and they have no* tether or parachute, but they do know where they should be at until the pilot is ready for the additional drag and they are in steady-state-flight.

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...