vpjr

I should be out there in Dec to help my dad get everything packed up.. I will be taking the Twin Otter, 206 and adding them to my 2 other 206s. I dont know where I will end up with them. I couldnt make the payments on that empire but if I can keep these planes flying and not fuc up maybe I will build my own. Jr.

Congratulations to Van and Alberta. They worked so hard over most of my life time to create and keep that business open. Many DZOs have told me that they wanted to built their facilities to rival my dads. Holding tension on PC s in front of the terminal, Beech 18s, DC-3s, movie stunts, Otters, the old loft, daily military air shows, clear skies, Early birds and sunset jumps. I am grateful for the opportunity to have had an incredible place to hang out, drive the dz truck, pack parachutes, great skydiving mentors, met my lovely wife, and now I am paying the mortgage on my house with what I learned from my dad about flying skydivers. I would hope to build a business as nice and retire. Thanks to everyone who participated in these memories. Jr.

I am waiting for some info from Thielert about Time Between Replacement ,ie Overhaul (TBR), and Life Limited Components. I dont think part 91 ops will have to comply with the TBR but will have to comply with Life Limited Components. I need to know the times and cost of replacement to determine the engine reserve cost per flight hour. That will tell us a lot toward getting this thing off of the ground for skydiving.

I'll stick with a nice PT-6 turbine, or better yet, two oversized ones on a King Air. Once you're used to nine minutes to fourteen grand, anything slower is torture. I agree, but what is the current price for a used PT6-34 + 4 blade Hartzel? If I could only sell 10,000 full alt tickets a year Id have a Otter, or Caravan, or King air, or if I only had a brain.

I believe Van Prey Jr. and his wife, Emiko, are operating a diesel 206 on an east coast DZ somewhere. We are not running a Diesel on our planes yet but I keep talking about it to everyone that will listen. I want to shorten the climb times for me and the up jumpers, reduce the fuel burn, and make the 206 an airplane that you can give to a low time pilot with out him screwing up the engine. Changing tires is easier than cylinders.

The Diesel 206 might have to pump some smoke to haul a bunch of POPs to alt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x02f8ZLf-WY&NR=1 The new turbo direct injection and fadec controled engines really dont smoke under normal operating conditions. Black smoke here means more power but wasted fuel.

Do your numbers based on 300 hours per plane, per year minimum. Paying for everything, flying, Maint, loan interest payment, insurance, engine overhaul + top reserves, and airframe reserves. Hours less than that and you will find that the aircraft is loosing money on the experienced jumper seats. I flew one airplane last year a 600 hours with good load factors. This year with 2 planes I am at 675 hours and poorer load factors. My question is. If an investor expects a 8-15% per year return on capital investment, what should the increase for return on investment be for a high risk business enviroment like skdiving?

It is certified in Europe and the US has a recipricating agreement. The paperwork is sitting on some guys desk. Takes 1-2 years

The Gippsland Airvan would easily hold 8 jumpers.

Any angle of bank or pitch exceeding FAA limits is just an illusion.

http://aerialtransport.com/c20651q.html Garmin audio panel GNS 530 tray Garmin 496 handheld w/ airgismo dock Garmin SL 30 Nav Com w/ Indicator Garmin GXT 330 transponder Installed and GNS 530 IFR approved $15000 Using the traffic information system to hunt down my other 206 and do formation loads. Priceless

My little Cessna 206 has the Garmin GTX 330 transponder with Traffic Information System (TIS). Traffic is displayed on the Garmin 496 GPS and traffic alerts are given over the audio panel. This system has helped me many times. It is hard to see over the nose of a 206 during climb and now I have help finding traffic before atc points them out. The system only looks down 2500 ft below the plane so jumpers must still look before they leap. I have noticed a lot of training going in the atc system and the old timers seem cranky dealing with vfr part 91. PVD approach controllers cannot repeat back an N number unless it is written on a strip in front of them. I am not expecting a lot of help from atc now a days and the IFR 121 guys (I flew part 121 for 2.5 years) should not expect a lot of protection or service either. (Keep your lights on and eyes pealed below 10K) I hope to install this system in my other 206 this winter and at $15000 I have to fly a lot of jumpers with no losses to get my money back. I don’t think TCAS should be mandatory for jump planes but this forum may educate skydivers and pilots to the hazards that are out there. I hope pilots would choose to use safe procedures and skydivers would choose aircraft with this style of safety equipment. The only butt I am trying to protect in the plane is mine but if I make it safely to alt and back then the others around me have a better chance.