0
chrismgtis

Fear sitting next to the door

Recommended Posts

To me this is funny. I love jumping and it really doesn't bother me too much anymore. Sure I'm afraid every time, but very calm and collected. The one thing that does scare the crap out of me is sitting on the floor of the plane, next to the door. Especially when they open the door and I'm sitting there scared to death that the pilot is going to turn and I'm going to fall out. :D

And I hate it when I'm asked to open the door. Please don't do that. :ph34r:

Anyone else with me on this? lol :)
Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033
Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hey, I understand, it took me a while before I could sit next to the open door in an Otter with out it giving me the heeby-geebies.

People *have* fallen out of open doors on jump planes before, but it typically didn't happen (from the stories I've heard) due to the pilot. It typically happened due to people screwing off around the door and bumping someone out. I've never seen it happen, these were all just old jumper wives tales told around the fire.

Either way for me it took some reasoning to myself. I'm in the plane to leave, right? If I fall out of the plane at typical door opening altitude or higher (1000') then I just fall out. I deploy a canopy (reserve if its around 1000' main if at a more appropriate altitude for my main) land off and laugh really hard about the experience later.

What concerns me much more than falling out of the open door is having a PC snake loose or a reserve pin popping loose. That would be much more violent and could be much more catastrophic than just falling out.
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I used to be scare shitless too.
I started at a 182/Navajo DZ where the walls and doors are opaque. the 1st time I jumped a Caravan I was next to the plexi door looking down and being slightly farced against the door. I was shitting myself until we got to 2000 feet:ph34r::ph34r::ph34r:

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I feel the same way! I have a video that my husband took, I was last to board and I had everyone slide over so I had two people in between me and the door! My husband thinks it is hillarious! he says I am jumping anyway! The weirdest thing was sitting in the back of a CASA with the door slightly open on take off.

On another note. I usually jump sthe PAC. The door doesn't come open until 1000' and usually stays open until 7000'. So there is not much time that it is open anyway!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Did a jump from a Jet Ranger (no doors) the other week... There's "room" for 3 people on the seat behind the pilot - Yeah, if they were sticks!!.. so as one of the outboard folks and a larger gent in the middle position, I had my right bum cheek hanging out of the a/c all through the flight.... It didn't bother me and was actuallt rather interesting to get a proper view of the circuitB|


(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Recently I've done a lot of jumps in planes that don't have doors. A few weeks ago 7 of us were crammed into a U-206 without a door OR seatbelts. I got myself wedged into the doorframe as well as I could and just held on like a motherfucker till 1500'. The whole time I was mentally telling the pilot 'All left turns, no right turns, all left turns'
I got nuthin

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

lets add a little science to this topic.

basic cessna jump plane, right side exit
open door, a 200 pound jumper, siiting RIGHT NEXT TO IT>>>>:o:SB|;):)
... and then the pilot cranks a hard right hand turn....!!!
YIKES!!!??????? well Not really.!!:|

Don't the laws of physics cause the jumper to be pinned TO the floor, and NOT easily able to "fall Out" ?

not sure of the forces involved,,, but I recall being in a helicopter ( UH-1H ) which had to be nearly on it's side (relative to the ground), and not only didn't we fall OUT.. but it was hard to even Move.
g forces, or else centrifical force...pinned us to the floor...

P S to the O P...IF you're concerned about this,,, that that is a good reason to wear your seatbelt,, til an altitude above 1000 feet...right???

jmy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

lets add a little science to this topic.

basic cessna jump plane, right side exit
open door, a 200 pound jumper, siiting RIGHT NEXT TO IT>>>>:o:SB|;):)
... and then the pilot cranks a hard right hand turn....!!!
YIKES!!!??????? well Not really.!!:|

Don't the laws of physics cause the jumper to be pinned TO the floor, and NOT easily able to "fall Out" ?
??

jmy

Yup centrifugal forces will hold you in, but what if the pilot just rotates the fuselage,(rolls) then you fooked:D
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

And I hate it when I'm asked to open the door. Please don't do that. :ph34r:



I don't mind sitting next to the door but... I HATE opening it! Climbing out onto the strut and letting go I have no problem with... but turning that handle freaks me the hell out.

-- Mike
"Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal. All this pain is an illusion"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I had that fear right uptil 300 jumps. My logic always dictated that even though I was wearing a rig, exiting the plane and falling out of it were two very different things.

I gained my confidence on my time. No one hurried me to the door or ever played silly buggers if I was sitting at the door.

I am a Jump Master now and have no problem leaning out of the door while I assist in dispatching a student.

I will never forget when I was still a progression student we had to open the Porter door at an altitude below mine for another student to exit, tonto was sitting in the dog box (area at the back of the porter where there was no seat.) he slid up and pulled me towards him so that the open door was behind me. I will never forget that moment.

Anyway take your time and slowly get used to being near the door.

Good luck & Blue skies

Sheri

"Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's
addressed to someone else!" Ivern Ball

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote



And I hate it when I'm asked to open the door. Please don't do that. :ph34r:



I hate it when it is like 100 degrees, 200 degrees in the plane, and some one is meowing about not wanting to open the door after the belts are off. Please don't do that. If you don't like sitting next to an open door please strap yourself to a TI, they sit far away from the door. :P:ph34r:
"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
> Yup centrifugal forces will hold you in, but what if the pilot just rotates
>the fuselage,(rolls) then you fooked . . .

I think you have to worry about yaw more than anything else. The biggest risk in terms of falling out of an Otter is losing an engine; the plane will yaw rapidly in one direction (tail away from the bad engine) and then the pilot will rapidly correct with rudder (tail towards the bad engine.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Well, below 1,000' you should have a seat belt on so you can't fall out the door.

And usually the door is shut for that first 1,000 feet anyway, to smooth the aerodynamics for takeoff.

But once the seatbelts come off at 1,000', and the door opens to cool things off, then even if you did fall out, you've got a good chute on your back and the time to use it.

If the plane starts bouncing around, grab hold of something to steady yourself.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

A very close friend of mine fell out the plane at 300ft and was killed. He deployed his reserve but didn't have time to open.


How did this happen? I have a seat belt on until 1000ft.
"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My own experience, back when I was still a student, was the opposite of yours. I started out jumping Cessnas, and had lots of the usual "door fear". Then one of my DZs got a DH-Beaver, which flew with the door removed (no seat belts, either BTW). I found that when sitting near the open door the whole way up I had a lot less pre-jump fear than when sitting in a Cessna with its door closed till jump run.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hey that's the best seat in the plane except for the cold and during the summer even that can be good!

You get a great view, you get to open the door at the right time, you can really check your spot and for clear airspace, you get to watch the hop-n-pops deploy, and in freefall everyone should be behind you along the line of flight.

And in the event of an in-flight emergency, you will be first out!

Blue skies,

Jim

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hehehehehe.....I feel the exact same way until we hit about 3000ft, then I am fine.:D:D:D

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Personally, I love sitting next to the door and enjoying the wind, especially in the hot summers. And, if something happens to the plane, I'm the first one out! :P

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0