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testpilot

Do you pay if you come down with the plane?

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If I choose to not exit the plane, yes I have had to pay. However, if the plane comes down entirely due to weather then no I didnt pay.

You need to make the call on the ground before going up. And if you still change your mind at least in my eyes $22 is better giving away then having one of those "Im up here wishing I was down there, instead of down there wishing I was up there" scared as hell moments.
She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

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I was very impressed at Weston on the Green in Oxfordshire when i had paid for a full height jump but the cloud came in and half of us bailed out at just under 2,500. When we landed I was called to manifest where they basically refunded the ticket for a low jump (£6 compared to £18). I thought that was great customer service.

Those who did not jump got a refund. You don't to push people outside their personal comfort zones and risk an accident for the price of a jump ticket.

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

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Yes, if the jumpers decide the weather's good enough to jump and board the plane they pay for the highest altitude they reach even if they come down because of bad weather. Even if they don't jump they've received a service that costs money & should pay for that service.


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Only time I have'nt paid was on a ceiling height test flight. Basically to fly the plane up to find the base of the coulds. It was at 1400 feet so that was it, no jumping and we landed. Other then that as soon as the plane takes off my money is spent.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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Just my 2 cents, but... Basically, the "un-written rule" or "custom" as I've always took it and explained to newbies is if you get to the top and YOU decide not to get out because of Winds, Weather, Spot, whatever and you ride the plane down, then you're expected to pay. Remember, you're not paying for the skydive, you're paying for the airplane ride to the top. If the airplane gets to the top and the DZO decides to call the plane down for what ever reason then the right thing for the DZO to do would be to eat the cost of the trip and not charge the jumpers... I've had that happen a handful of times and that's what has happened in that specific case.

Basically, it boils down to yet another example of showing YOU are responsible for YOUR skydiving. If the conditions are "sketchy" learn to evaluate before you get on the plane.

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If the CCI makes the call to put the load up and he turns out to be wrong about the weather meaning the plane has to come down with no one getting a jump then I have not paid and would grumble to myself if required to do so while understanding that I chose to get on the damn plane in the first place.

If the CCI says to us - "I think it's too cloudy, I will put the plane up but if it's a no jump you don't get a refund" then I have either taken the risk myself or scratched off the load. Under these circs if I come down with the plane then that is my problem and manifest get's to keep my ticket.

I've seen both happen at numerous different DZ's and feel it's a good way of working it. So long as everyone knows where they stand either approach is perfectly acceptable, it's where people are suddenly surprised by a ruling they weren't expecting (or had been led to believe was not the case) that things get a little unfair.

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I have never landed with the plane, but would fully expect to pay if. I am paying for the ride up, not to jump. How I land (with the plane or under a parachute) does not matter. That being said, I can't remember anyone other then a few tandems ever landing with the plane. I have witnessed jumps that pushed personal judgments though, and perhaps landing with the plane would have been smarter. But that is a personal judgement call per jumper.
ignorance is not bliss

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Yes, if the jumpers decide the weather's good enough to jump and board the plane they pay for the highest altitude they reach even if they come down because of bad weather.



That's the way it works at the C-182 DZ I frequent.
(With a ceiling check exception that's already been mentioned, if the DZO OK's the flight.)

It's easy for the jumpers to discuss in the air whether to ask the pilot to try for more altitude, and together take the risk that they'll pay for high but jump low.

But what typically happens for a Twin Otter, where it's harder to have a meeting and arrive at a consensus?
On the loads I've been on, it seems to have been the pilot's decision and you trust he'll try for a good judgement. Or is there an agreed plan before leaving the ground, that isn't changed in the air? (As mr2mk1g mentioned.)

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If I choose to not exit the plane, yes I have had to pay. However, if the plane comes down entirely due to weather then no I didnt pay.



Same.

Richards
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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Sport jump plane rides down?

Zero....


Student jump plane rides down?

Dozens...

Students don’t pay if it is my call and whenever the conditions are shitty when I make a sport jump, well what can I say? I have a freakish side that loves jumping through storms! It is beautiful to experience, like when Trinity was flying Neo into the machine city and had to fly up over the clouds and see the sun for the first time - it’s just beautiful and for me is worth the risk like swooping or unprotected sex is worth it to others...

I have had the pleasure of jumping through a few storms that not only could I not believe the plane actually too off in the first place, but the green light was actually turned on! It is a beautiful thing…

Do I tell students this side of me?

Hell no...
Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

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I've always been under the thought that you are paying for an airplane ride, not a jump.

If it's ?????, then don't go. Life is all about risks.



You are correct Jerry.

Unless you are a student then you just pay for the training. The jump and the airplane ride are free.





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I've been on loads where I wanted a low pass, had to go all the way up, and got a pass on the way down. Paid hopnpop price.

Any reason the plane comes down and we couldnt jump I have never paid.

My DZ is very cool about that stuff.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

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Nope. If you decide not to exit because of a change in the weather between the time we board and the time we get to jump run, we get our ticket back.

Safety first, and all that.



That's a pretty generous DZO you have there Bob.d. Question... does your DZO ever then ground the plane because of bad or questionable weather?

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Yep, though most jumpers are smart enough to ground themselves before that happens. I've also seen loads called down from height. The APF have specified maximum wind limits for jumpers as well.

One of the nicer things is that as far as I know the staff are never put under pressure to jump in conditions they're not comfortable with.

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I am very suprised at all the people saying they don't pay if they ride down. I am even more suprised by those who say they expect not to pay or grumble about it if they have to. If you are not a student and you decide to get on the plane you should pay for your slot. Why should the DZO have to eat the whole load. They should make their decision to send the students up or not and you decide for yourself.

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Last time the DZ called our max lift down to 4k (as they couldn't see us) we had to eat the cost difference between a hop'n'pop and max (not getting out a 4k would burn the ticket regardless).

Seems bit tight. EDITed to add: I really couldn't see my dz not burning my ticket if i pitched up on flightline and said 'it looks too cloudy, i'm off', so the 'you shouldn't have got on it' view is invalid.

Having said that, i'll second the storm jumping motion. Big sky theory suits me fine, i'd happily get out without seeing an inch of ground :S...until a bad experince changes my view on that.

---------------------------------------
Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

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I am very suprised at all the people saying they don't pay if they ride down. I am even more suprised by those who say they expect not to pay or grumble about it if they have to. If you are not a student and you decide to get on the plane you should pay for your slot. Why should the DZO have to eat the whole load. They should make their decision to send the students up or not and you decide for yourself.



if the LZ and the DZ are the same, people should be able to judge conditions and make their gamble, so long as one is allowed to demanifest reasonably close to departure time.

But Hollister, for example, lands 7 miles away. It's hard to evaluate what's ahead and you're relying more on the DZ (or the pilot coming back from the prior run) to make that call. Doesn't seem so clear cut there.

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There is no right or wrong way, just accepted practice. I feel you pay your money (up front) and you take your chances. Our DZ charges you for the highest altitude reached, even if we have to come back down. Sometimes we get only 10,5 or 11, but no one even looks for a refund, because so often we pay for 12,5 and get 14+. :)

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