First small plane jump (cessna 182)

[catfishhunter 1]

I dunno if would want to be in a 182 with 5 people. I am 6'2" 230+ 4 People is crammed enough for me. 5 or 6 in a 182 reminds me of a clown car. Then again with our jumpsuits we do kinda look like clowns

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[bch7773 0]

probably 300 outta my 400 jumps are out of a c182.

try climbing outta a cessna when both pilot and co pilot seats are in. thats tons of fun sqeeeezing out.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[Eule 0]

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So share your small plane experiences.

My entire skydiving career (all 34 jumps of it) has been out of the same 1959 182B. It's been stripped
for jumping; only the pilot gets a seat, but there are seat belts and padding on the floor. I usually sit
behind the pilot, facing the rear - pilots vary on if they want me to use their seat as a backrest or not.
10K to 11K is pretty normal depending on how many jumpers and how hot it is outside. I did get to
go to 12.5K in it once when it was just me and one other jumper on the first load of the day.

I don't know how common this is on 182 jump planes, but ours does have a step on it - a metal plate
that's clamped to the strut at one end and hangs out over the tire on the other. On the ground it
clears the tire by an inch or so; in the air, when you step on it, the far end is supported by the tire.

One of our pilots installs a glass cockpit upgrade when he flies. OK, that sounds more impressive
than a Garmin GPS attached to the yoke with Velcro. :)

Once this summer, a jumper managed to bang his head into the side window on the ride up and knock
it out of the frame. I thought that might be it for the day but they tried another load and found that
it really wasn't that windy inside, so we kept jumping.

My "big plane" experience so far has been limited to visiting a DZ that had a Twin Otter. It was in the
air when I got there and I didn't know what they had. Manifest started to call the next load and she
kept on going after the fourth name and I thought, "can you DO that?" (I got there late in the day
and didn't end up making a load.) I've also been reading threads here about waiting for the "green
light" and having trouble talking to the pilot, and I thought, "What? The pilot is right next to you;
can't you just turn your head and talk to him?"

The DZO lusts after a '65 or newer 182. Apparently the body is wider, and so is the engine cowl, so it's
possible to install a slightly bigger engine and get to altitude faster. If he gets one, I think he might add
the wing extensions as well - ours doesn't have them but I have seen a 182 with them fitted.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[Eule 0]

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Bat hang exits are hilariously fun, just make sure you don't smack your altimeter on the step when you
fall

I've watched another jumper do this a couple of times off of the 182. One time, another jumper who was
still in the plane was videoing it, so the guy on the wing made sure to look back into the door and geek the
camera. He then started looking at each one of us in turn. The pilot had turned to look too, and when
they made eye contact, the pilot developed a very BIG grin and smoothly, but quickly, tweaked the yoke.
The jumper gave the pilot a dirty look as he fell away. :)

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[Orange1 0]

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My dropzone also jumps a cessna all winter long, no problems with that I actually know how to spot.

A couple of guys have said things like this... why are people riding larger planes apparently not able to spot? We do have GPS in the planes but always do a proper look-out-the-door spot before we jump which seems...obvious, I thought?

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Fast 0]

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My dropzone also jumps a cessna all winter long, no problems with that I actually know how to spot.

A couple of guys have said things like this... why are people riding larger planes apparently not able to spot? We do have GPS in the planes but always do a proper look-out-the-door spot before we jump which seems...obvious, I thought?

Because you don't really learn how to spot the plane.

Most people just look out and are like "uhh close enough" When you jump a 182 you do ALL the work. There is no GPS, there is no light, nothing... you figure you're close and ask for the door. OPPS wasn't close... oh well now you're cold... Don't make that mistake more than a few times in december.

You do a lot more when you spot a 182 than when you "spot" a big turbine. You might be looking out, and every now and then you might maybe give a correction, but more often than not you don't have to do any of that because the plane is right where it is "supposed" to be due to gps. A 182 is a lot more involved than that if you want to get out on target. If you consider that sometimes the pilot isn't the best because he is new and building hours you will have to do even more work than if it is someone who has flown jumpers in a 182 a lot.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[kelpdiver 2]

I guess I'm still not seeing the reason.

Altitude is the same or lower (easier). Speed isn't that much slower than 80knots (otter), is it? And because you have only 4-5 jumpers, you don't need to start the jumprun well short of target so the last guy doesn't get a bad long spot.

The last one seems like the double edge sword. You get to practice for dead center, which can lead to very accurate spotting, but does that translate well to a Skyvan? Or make you one of those bastards that sets up their (first) group exit perfectly over the middle and has the last 3 groups landing out?

[ScottyInAus 0]

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The last one seems like the double edge sword. You get to practice for dead center, which can lead to very accurate spotting, but does that translate well to a Skyvan? Or make you one of those bastards that sets up their (first) group exit perfectly over the middle and has the last 3 groups landing out?

When you're taught to spot, this is one of the things you are taught to take into consideration.
If you're doing a 5-way you will obviously open the door and set up earlier because it takes longer to climb out etc.

Our c182 does have a GPS, this is mainly used for windspeed/direction.

Cheers,
Jason.

[skydivermom 0]

All of my solo jumps have been from a C182. It's still kind of spooky climbing out and hanging, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I have never exited from anything else by myself. Did three tandems and one AFF from an Otter.

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[tbrown 26]

Last spring I had my first Cessna jump since returning to the sport from a 22 year break. I started in Cessnas back in the seventies and jumped them all the time, but since returning in 2003 had only been up in twin turbos. Four of us went up to 4 grand at Taft because that was all we could get at the moment, things cleared up later and the PAC-750 came out of the hangar. But I was sitting in the "student" position in the door, with a good friend kneeling in "jumpmaster' position. He got out and left the plane effortlessly. Then I tried to swing myself out on the step. Lord, what the years and a few extra pounds can do to us. I used to be able to slip out onto the step like a cat on the hunt and here I was huffing, puffing and straining to find my footing while the young dude behind me is yelling "come on !" in my ear. It was all good though, I just made a true hop & pop, looked up once at the plane and tossed, while the young guy dove out and tracked for a better spot at a lower opening. It was nice to be back in a Cessna again - but next time I'll take one of the upright kneeling positions, thank you.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[skydived19006 4]

I do have 1000 tandems out of a 182, and I'm 6'8" tall! Not only that but we do easily put two tandem pairs in our 182 (nothing new to Cessna people)

Smallest airplane I've jumped was a Polish Wilga (can we say novalty?) Just two seat, prop turns backward, and no rudder trim (means the pilot has to push really hard on the rudder peddle for the whole of the climb). Then fairly hard to get out of.

Lots of Pits jumps at WFFC (I haven't done that one), but that's a small one!

Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

[Jeth 0]

Wow, that sounds exactly like my C-182 experience! Except in mine, I DID practice the exit, but STILL had trouble hanging on! I, too, gave up and just dove out. But in my defense, it was also raining out which made it 100x more unpleasant. I am planning on going back to that dz so I can try it again on a nice day.

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
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