Jump Plane

[howardwhite 5]

This is too easy for a "What is...".
I've occasionally jumped out of one. But I've never seen one with a step and floater bar.
Picture from a booth at the recent PIA Symposium in Barcelona.

HW

[DavidB 0]

"too easy..." is right, since it says Cherokee Six on the tail. Made more than a couple jumps from one in Lakewood in 84 & 85. Didn't have those cool steps & handles though. We'd get the pilot to open his vent window & the front floater could hold it, stand carefully on the wing & pull out a 2nd front float, then with one hanging from the door, one rear float, & a 2-way in the door, we were set.

My brother's one & only plane ride was in it also. It was easy to transfer from the wheel chair to the wing to the copilot's seat (not normally used). George, the pilot, gave my bro a 20 minute lesson on what was what as they climbed to altitude. After the load jumped, he turned the plane to 090 & said, "Take it" & let go of the controls. My brother says, "Take what? This? I DON'T WANT IT. You keep it!" (LOL) He must have spent 45 minutes flying up & down the beach! Upon landing, the first thing my brother says is, "I can BREATHE!" We still laugh about it.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[jimjumper 25]

That same plane was a dog to altitutde. It was also famous for taking the meat off your shins if you were first out the door because of the 3-4 inch high door lip. You had to be careful to launch forcefully out the doorand not drag your legs!

[howardwhite 5]

There was a thread elsewhere about Cherokee Six jump aircraft. I recalled there (as did others) that the most vivid memory was how quickly it lost altitude on jump run with a couple of people outside the door. I only made a few demo jumps out of one.
There is also a "hump" in the floor for the wing strut, if I recall correctly, that made for uncomfortable seating and movement in the plane.
That was what prompted me to take the picture; the plane is in current use at a DZ in Bulgaria -- AVA Sport. I should have, but did not talk with them about it.

HW

[DavidB 0]

Quote

That same plane was a dog to altitutde. It was also famous for taking the meat off your shins if you were first out the door because of the 3-4 inch high door lip. You had to be careful to launch forcefully out the doorand not drag your legs!

Come to think of it, I remember sitting on the packing tables one night, around 0beer30, wondering what I cracked my shin on that day. And yea, old George was "careful" with his plane.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[riggerrob 561]

I only got a couple of jumps out of Cherokee Six that the Saint John, New Brunswick club used to lease.
If I planned on using one on a regular basis, I would install a plywood floor - level with the door sill - similar to the floor that the Portugese installed in their Dornier 27s.
MInd you,if I were planning ot jump from one on a regular basis, I would hold out for the long-wing version that is still in production.