negcamber

Well, we are frequently tied close to the airport due to limited lift. There is plenty of sky out there, but there is not always plenty of lift. If I had strayed too far from the airport that day, my chances of landing out and putting myself at risk would have been high. Like I said...if I hear the jump plane warning, and I am under blue sky, I high tail it to someplace where jumpers should not be...and one of the places they should not be is passing through a cloud. But I have to ask you...assuming in you are in the US, by choosing to jump when you don't have the option to miss the cloud you are choosing to break the law if I read Part 105.17 correctly. I have to make the same choice when I fly power. The Cessna I rent is equipped for IFR flight, but I am not IFR rated. If conditions are not VFR legal, I have to choose whether to fly illegally or stay on the ground all day. It is a choice. You can choose to operate safely or not.

A radio is required in class A,B,C and D airspace and for parachute operations. Actually, there is a caveat for Class D: "Unless otherwise authorized, each person must establish two-way radio communications with the ATC facility providing air traffic services prior to entering the airspace and thereafter maintain those communications while in the airspace." You can operate without a radio in Class D with the tower's advanced permission...ie, give'em a call and let'em know your planned departure or entry into the airspace so they can watch for you. Light signals are used by the tower to communicate instructions to the pilot.

Mind if a glider pilot crashes the thread? Some one asked how high gliders go...in the southeast US, the situation from the pic would be unlikely since thermals usually create a cloud base under 10k. In the mid-west & west, strong thermal activity or waves can definitely get up to 13,5 and well beyond. (Gliders can request special IFR waivers for wave flights above 18kMSL). In the northeast...it depends on terrain...hills and mountains can create good ridge/wave flights but most times it is plain old thermals that will cloud base at under 10k. In the US, we all have to depend on each other to safely share the sky when operating outside controlled airspace. I can tell you that I operate at an airport with a DZ. I have a radio and as soon as the jump plane gives a 3 min warning on unicom, I start looking around to see if I am in a dangerous location. If the sky is blue above me and I'm near the cone, I put the nose down and get the hell clear. But...my ship has a battery electrical system to run a radio that many gliders do not have. So what do we all do? We all have had extensive training to fly our respective sports. That training is not just to keep yourself safe, but to keep others safe as well. We each need to think about what we are doing in the air. Don't act carelessly just because you may or may not have right of way over another. When you get right down to it, the right of way is moot if either glider pilot or jumper dies because one or the other does not take action to avoid obvious danger. And in my opinion, that goes double for jump plane pilots, who, given their advanced ratings, should be far more attuned to spotting traffic dangers. And then do what is necessary to keep their passengers and other pilots safe...even if that means burning a few more gallons of fuel to go around. BTW...one request...please please do not jump through clouds if glider ops are at your airport. I'm sure it is a rush...but one of the scariest incidents I've experienced was to have a jumper pass right in front of my nose as I'm thermalling 500ft below a cloud. He was so close that all I saw was a black blur come shooting out of the cloud. As I looked down to see the canopy pattern so I could talk to this person later, I noticed all of the other jumpers seemed to have avoided this cloud just fine. Remember, clouds point to thermals...and under thermals is where you will find gliders. Stay safe...