dzswoop717

A Beech 18 is still on my bucket list of airplanes to own. I need to win the lottery.

Casa's fell out of favor because Paul Fayard sold them to a company that doesn't find it profitable enough to lease them to civilian skydiving businesses. Military contracts are much more profitable.

My Dad started flying jumpers when I was 4 years old in 1966. I remember the first time I saw a parachute. It was my Dad's first weekend flying jumpers and it was at a grass strip in East Berlin PA. I spent most weekends at the DZ watching and learning from the ground. My parents finally let me make my first jump in 1978. Skydiving has been a part of my life for almost 50 years. I ended up buying that grass strip in 2014 and now live and work there. I don't jump at commercial DZs much any more. I usually invite a couple of friends over, take the door off my Cessna 180, make a few jumps, and land on my back yard. I sometimes miss the DZ life, But I'm getting over it.

It was probably a 182. The main gear on a 180 is too far forward to be used as a step for a student. You have to go under the strut to get on the wheel. It would be a little unnerving having a static line student do that.

What about wing extensions? Man hours to install kit? Does the cowling come with the kit?

Me either. Matched a couple numbers on my 5 tickets. I guess I'll have to make my dreams come true the old fashion way. Work for it.

I would take care of my family and friends and donate heavily to my favorite charities, Then!! buy a few properties at each end of my runway, extend it from 2700' to over a mile, pave it, and put in a vasi. Buy all the planes my Dad had in the old days, restore them and jump the hell out of them. Add a DC3, Porter, and twin Otter. Invite my long time friends over to skydive. Buy a jet for traveling to my many homes across the US. I guess my wife might have some say in all this.

One year, celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary tonight.

I made 19 jumps on my 19th birthday using 4 rigs. A couple of buddies were packing for me and it only took a couple of hours. I used 2 gutter mount rigs with PC's and 2 Top Secret containers with Seaira lite canopies. I had 18 stand up landings in the peas and one stand up just outside the peas. I always pulled down on my rear risers just as my feet were about to touch the ground, but that was 34 years and 80 pounds ago. One round jump would send me to the hospital today.

All good points. Early in my tandem instructor career I had a female passenger who was as round as she was tall. I tightened her harness and leg straps as tight as i could and on opening she ended up with her head down at my crotch. We got down safely but we instituted height to weight limits after that.

Giving Notice to airmen is not only safer, it gives the jump pilot some leverage when there is a near miss with a canopy and another airplane. Many years ago we had a very close call with a Cessna 170 after break off and opening of a 10 way. The plane was directly in the middle of all our canopies. One female jumper had to lift her legs to clear the wing as the plane flew through that side of our group. We landed and called the FSDO, the 170 pilot was on the other line. We had a permanent NOTAM filed and the jump pilot made the proper calls on the unicom freq. The 170 pilot claimed we were at fault. The 170 pilot had his ticket yanked for a short time for not checking NOTAMS and some other charge like wreckless endangerment I can't remember the actual violation. If we wouldn't have had a NOTAM filed, been in contact with New York center, and made the proper announcements on UNICOM we would have been the ones in trouble, pilot and jumpers alike. COVER YOUR ASS.ALWAYS FILE A NOTAM !!!

I am over weight, my legs are big, I tighten my leg straps as tight as I can while bending fwd when I gear up. This lets the leg straps get as close to what they will be like under canopy. I sometimes tighten them again in the airplane if I have the room to do so. I also wear my chest strap tight, helps me keep the harness from pulling my shoulders back during opening shock. If I don't tighten my leg straps super tight, I end up hanging very low in my harness and my chest strap is up close to my chin just like you have described. There are different rules for big guys and we are a minority. Skinny people don't know all the little tricks it takes to skydive comfortably and successfully when you are heavy. The majority of my 6300+ logged jumps have been made while I was over weight. Don't be afraid to tighten your leg straps.

That worked for us. My wife has done every ground bound job at DZ's since we started dating. Manifest, packing, mowed grass, cleaned, cooked, wash airplanes, snacks and lunch for many boogies and big ways, catered skydiver weddings at the dz, worked at Quincey and other major boogies. The list goes on and on. We have been out of the skydiving business since 2002 but still have jump days at our airport a few time a year. She always has a feast waiting for us at the end of the day. We celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in January 2016. I have been blessed with a very supporting wife. To the OP, Get her involved, I'm sure she can find her place at the DZ. Remember family first, don't be at the DZ all the time.

I don't understand why night jumps are required for a D license. I can see the need for a Pro rating holder to be night qualified because of the possibility of doing night demos. The average jumper shouldn't have to take this risk if they never plan to jump at night for fun. I have nothing against doing night jumps, I have had a lot of fun making dozens myself. I just don't understand the logic that it is necessary to become an Expert Skydiver.

This isn't a life lesson , but more of a career path. After Many years in the skydiving business, I cured myself of the delusion that I wanted to own a DZ again. If you have a good DZO, show him or her your appreciation for what they do. It is their passion for the sport that keeps them going NOT profit. I am not talking about the tandem mills, I'm talking about the ones that go out of their way to keep skydiving safe and fun for us. I don't think GOOD DZO's get enough credit for what they do. Sorry for the early thread drift.

I have a picture some where of Paul Jackson landing his Fury at the 82nd Parachute Club, after a 180 hook turn, using rear risers. It was in 1985 when we were getting our AFF ratings. He used them all the time.

In 1972 the first square parachute showed up at our DZ, I was 10 years old and completely enfactuated with it. It was A Baby Para Plane. All the experienced guys started to experiment with it. One 16 year old D licence holder, George Whittington, Experimented the most and started messing with front riser turns and double front riser input to penetrate heavy winds. We often talked about how he was sure that the canopy gained a few feet of altitude when coming out of a turn or when flairing from a front riser dive. Back then he didn't dare try any of these techniques while landing. A few years later the Strato Star came out and George started using a toggle turn to gain speed to get a better flair out of the canopy. He used this method until he got a 7 Cell at which time he got serious about deep brake accuracy and the different modifications to make a canopy more stable in deep brakes. Fast fwd to 1981, I had just bought my first very used square canopy. It was a worn out Unit 1. It didn't have much flare when you flew in at full flight and flared . I talked with George and started experimenting with what he had been trying a few years earlier. I put about 100 jumps on that rag and could get a standup most of the time by pulling both front risers down and letting them go a little before it was time to flare, there was no surf or altitude gain, It just helped enough to make the landings a little softer. I bought a new Unit 2 and on the first jump used the double front riser trick and experienced my first surf and staged flair because I felt like I was going back up when I flared so I held what I had and flew 10' across the ground before finishing my flare. I was on to something. I jumped at a small dz and didn't even know if anyone else was using this technique for landing. Several canopy changes later and after discovering the front riser hook turn on my 9 cell I was getting 50 feet or more swoops. I met Bill Legard at the Herd Boogie. I saw him come in for the first swoop landing I had ever witnessed, the rest I had done myself and no one in my little world of jumping did this kind of dangerous stuff. I watched Bill and realized he was leaps and bounds ahead of me with his technique. I talked with him and watched and learned. A couple of years later the Xcaliber crossed braced canopy came out then shortly after that Zero P material was invented. Swooping was being perfected by many people all over the world. I never got into competition but, have had a great time swooping my different canopies over the last 30 plus years. My question is Who were the real pioneers of swooping and where and when did it originate. I consider Bill to be my first commrade of this type of canopy flight and a pioneer, but I am sure there were many more way more advanced than us.

I don't jump much now a days, a couple of dozen jumps a year. I am closing in on 6300 jumps and I might have paid for 500 with cash. The rest were paid for with blood, sweat, and sometimes tears from being a sitting target while load organizing.

What do you know? It is just your opinion! Have you ever operated a Seneca for jump operations? I think he should buy one and report back to us about his success with this aircraft. Oh, I forgot to mention the insurance issue, He'll figure it out.

The navajo and the Seneca are 2 entirely different airplanes, they do not share any interchangable parts. A seneca would only carry 5 or 6 jumpers max. It only has 4 cylinder 360 cubic inch Lycoming engines ranging in horse power from 180hp to I think 210 hp.

A seneca is a twin engine , retractable landing gear version of the Cherokee 6. Basically the same airframe. How many cherokee 6's do you see flying jumpers? Now throw in 2 engines and retractable landing gear and you have added weight and more stuff to go wrong mechanically.

Born in 62. Airbrushed Frazetta's on vans with Rush cranked up drinkin' Old Milwalkee pounders in the late 70's early 80's. Listened to All the Worlds a Stage and the first self titled album yesterday while preping a Triumph TR4 for paint.

A U-206 is easier to do tandems out of than a 182. There are DZ's that operate turbo 206's , but as mentioned above, they were not designed for quick decents. Turbos crack easily when over cooled and cost major bucks to replace. A nonturbo, stock 206 is a slow climber with 5 jumpers on board. A 206 with an IO-550 is your best bet if you absolutely want a 206. A good old 182 can't be beat for small skydiving operations. Lower purchase price, lower maitenance costs, lower insurance, lower fuel burn, easier to fly, better parts availability. I have owned a few 182's and a 206, I would go with a 182 if you are new to the skydiving business.

If you want to support a charity in Haiti, A legitimate one is Source Of Life Ministries. 100% of the donations go directly to the charity which is a safe home for orphans. I have been a supporter for 5 years and have seen , first hand, the work they are doing. My wife and I traveled to Haiti last year to see the new safe house and meet the children. It was a life changing experience. If you don't like life in the USA, go to Haiti and it will make you look at things differently.

I also think about Chris and that day quit often. We were on a CRW team together when the down plane accident happened. Our team (Toys R Us Kids), Chris, Paul Rafferty, Todd Cudski, Todd Lorenzo, and myself, were up late partying the night before. If I remember correctly, it was our first jump of the day, we all were a little hung over. Paul was missing in action that morning so we stared jumping without him. We did 4 way rotation until break off and then split into 2 biplanes then transistioned to side by sides. Todd L and I landed a side by side and Chris and Todd C. landed a down plane. I remember everyone running to where they were lying. There were plenty of military medic skydivers on the dz that day who responded instantly. Other jumpers held me back from going out to the impact area. Chris's canopy hit the ground first, the impact split every rib in his canopy between the cross ports. Chris sustaind multiple fractures and brain injury, he was unconsous for a few days in the hospital. Todd had no broken bones but was a human bruise. He was purple from head to toe. Chris was never the same after the accident, he never got back to his old wonderful self. He was a true friend, a talented artist, a party animal and a genuinely good guy. I have many fond memories of Chris, all of them good.