vpjr

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Posts posted by vpjr

  2. At a muni or state airport I am sure if you asked you would find that Liability Insurance is required. If the airport manager is busy doing other things than being a cop and asking doesnt mean it isnt required to protect the airport or other tenants from an accident. I had to carry 1 Mil liability to land at Military bases.

  3. It has been hard to get a straight answer from the company doing the conversion. I (not knowing the regs) have been told the airframe and fuel system must handle 150% of the engines rated power. Then the certified number would be 550 hp. If you run a -20 at 550 hp it wont last long. Run it at 640 ITT and you get 450hp on a hot day for take off and 350hp going through 10K. The engine would last a very long time and performance would be great. Next thing on my work cards is 400hp, 425, 450. I am working on calibration of the fuel flow tomorrow. Hopefully more flight test Thursday. Snow storm here today.

  4. Swoopy exhaust stacks would look sexy but I had the exhaust stacks made as straight and long as possible to get the exhaust away from the door. Right now I am not smelling any exhaust getting in the fresh air vents, or leaking past the crappy door seals. No stains yet on the wing struts or wings. We will have to see what happen when the cargo doors are of and deflector installed. I reset the torque limit red lines this morning and now it is at 400hp but a snow storm is preventing test flights.

  7. The aircraft owner may not have hull insurance for the aircraft but may still have liability. ( To my understanding) This Liability only covers people and assets not involved with skydiving. Like the pilot taxis the plane into a Non skydiving aircraft on ramp, Crashes into a house at the end of the runway, the pilot or jumpers are not covered. This insurance is relatively cheap $1800 -$2500 depending on the 350K or 1 Mil. Most airports require liability and pressure the owner to show proof. If the owner stops paying the insurance, the insurance company notifies the airport the where the plane is based. The airport manager comes over and says he got a letter and the aircraft owner gets on the phone and pays the premium. The hull insurance can be 5-6% of the insured value per year on smaller planes.

  11. I believe Jump Pilots should be current at Stalls and have be Spin currency in appropriate aircraft. The wing behaves the same in a Stall at Gross as if the plane was partially loaded during training. It just happens at a different speed. Spin recovery time is longest at the aft CG limit but recoverable. Technique and turns are the same in a 172 as in the 182 per certification. Ill have to pull my books but I don't think my 182 was approved for spins. My Twin Otter wasnt either. Each aircraft could kill me and my passengers if I let it. When or if I get my Special airworthiness certificate Ill post a vid of my 206 spinning at Gross aft CG limit. All aircraft have limits and some are more stable and forgiving than others. The Cessna 100 series has proven to be safe and capable longer than I have been alive. I would bet Single engine Cessnas have carried more skydivers safely to alt per fatality than turbines. I do agree that part of our risk in Skydiving is the aircraft and Aircraft owners, DZOs, Jump pilots, and Skydivers all need to do our best to educate ourselves, do the right thing, and weigh the risk. Dont be fooled into thinking you cant die in a Skydiving Twin Otter, King Air, Pac, Caravan, 206, 182. It only takes one bad decision, operator, pilot, part or skydiver. Correction Chain of 3.

  12. I think the idea of making a 182 do high alt skydiving operations reasonable. Is it cost effective? That has been the discussion. Myself and others have talked about the upgrades necessary to make the aircraft preform that task and Wing X was on our list. To put the 2 tandems in a stock older 182 as you noted is overweight if you put on fuel. The Wing-X extensions give the gross weight increase, safety, performance upgrade and legal. Yes Low alt Skydiving operations that carry 2 tandems in older 182s should also have the wingx to be safe and legal. Chris, I could not quite understand your position except that 182s should not have 2 Tandems on board. As far as the high alt engine failure, Stall speed, landing / crashing speeds would be the same as a turbine caravan or Pac at gross. Flying at the edge (not exceeding) the W/B envelope is where max performance is. Thats how an aircraft is designed to be operated. The best rate of climb, best glide distance, slowest stall speed, = safest, and is at the aft CG limit. The airline you fly on isnt at %70 of gross weight. It is operated at gross, I know because Ive kicked peoples suitcases off to make weight. They were not happy. Im afraid I did know people that have died in Skydiving aircraft, from Twin Otters to Cessnas and the topic of W/B is a legitimate one to bring up. So what is your solutions to make our aircraft that we use in Skydiving Safer, perform better, and more cost effective?

  13. Graphic engine monitor w/ff $2500 new. = pilot can set best power mixture saving fuel, could be %10 reduction in fuel used. Reduced maint cost due to early diagnosis and engine being operated within limits. 3 Blade prop. $10K - $14K = 150 fpm SL climb (may be 75 fpm at your alt). Wing-X $5K or sportsman $2K with give 130fpm at SL and addition of the other kit will increase another 50fpm. $75K for a skydive 520 powererd 182 seams high. Dropzone.com has a jump 182 for $30k or a big engine for $57. Cheapest 185 I saw was $98K.

  14. Wide bodies began in 62 so there are cheaper airframes available to start the mods. Yes it is expensive. It will be expensive for him to climb to 10.5K agl no matter how he tries to get there. Stock 182 he will pay in fuel and limited number of jumps per day. 2 stock 182s you are at 80K and high fuel burn, 2 pilots, 6 tires, 12 cylinders to maintain. 185 is a good plane but he will be at 80K again and need good pilots. In Co it might not be to windy for tandems but may be to windy for x-wind landings in the 185.

  15. Do you have your aircraft mechanic or maint facility lined up? One hot rod 182 can be easier to stay ahead of than 2 182s. I chose to buy additional planes to ensure coverage but I am an A&P and I only had to make sure the planes were ready to fly and not answering the phones during the week. If it were me at a Startup hight alt dz. Build 1 hot rod 182, wide body ( I know the narrow body is faster but the later models have better fuel system and cowl flaps), O-520, Graphic Engine monitor with fuel flow, 3 blade MT prop, Wing-X extensions, Sportsman Stol leading edge.

  16. A preliminary W/B has been preformed. Not everything is installed yet and the aircraft was not configured as close to the original W/B as it could have been to get the most accurate change. The mod is currently overweight and fwd CG. Might be 100lbs overweight. One set of batteries are being moved to the baggage compartment now to correct the CG. I feel the modification can be put on a diet and loose 60lbs. The fiberglass cowls are thick and heaver than needed, Oil cooler ducting, inertial separator ducting, internal plenum, and even the hardware selection can all be lightened or redesigned to make them lighter. As this is the prototype and each time a system or part was added and now the complexity and weight are up. Ill keep you posted.

  17. The 206 is cheaper per seat in operating cost than a 182. If you buy a U206C model or newer (large horizontal) and do the mods required to make it climb it is twice (or more) the initial investment cost of the hot rod 182. The U206C and above have held there value better than the 182 during this recession and will probably do better because of the world wide demand and US dollar fluctuations. Also if that guy with the Pt6-20 U206 ever flies you will be ready to move up.

  18. You will need to put a lot of upgrades on the 206 to get it to climb. 550, wing-x, sportsman and the airframe and upgrades make it expensive. It will still not climb as fast as your 182 with your performance mods. If you only carry 4 in the 182 and do handycam, stick with that system. If you carry 4 and do outside vid, you will benefit from the 206. I can stop in with one of mine if or when I stop at my folks in Jamestown. oh and 207s do not climb.

  21. When you put down the deposit the DZ can start getting the staffing together. After your deposit they begin asking Tandem Masters, Video, Packers to give up something (kids soccer game, paint spare bedroom, fix snowblower) things they had to do that day so you and your friends are taken care of. Most DZs will do their best to give you the best service and this equals efficiency for them. More Tandems + video on a plane is better for them and they can get you guys in and out smooth and happy. I know that You have 10 for sure but the person behind the phone has heard this before and 95% of the time the person calling for the group of 10 do not even have 3. I wish I could afford a professional tele-marketer at $200 per tandem but then I would be a skyride. So at DZs you get Skydivers or someone willing to put up will skydivers as staff. Still let your dollar walk to where you feel best but remember that the DZ that promises you everything with a great price needs the money. The airplanes and gear actually need the money. The DZ that says I dont need your $2000 this bad when dealing with you on the phone is probably the safest. Large groups should do Static line. That is the best group event, team building skydive. Easier on DZs also. Tandems are for the group of 2s that are in a hurry.

  22. If you started the conversation with "I would like to put the deposit down for 10 first time jumpers" you would will probably get a much better response. Starting with "I have a group of 10 and what kind of discount can I get?" means the DZ will usually be wasting their time on the phone and if or when the group of 2-4 show up they are pissed that they didn't get the group of 10 discount like their friend told them they would get. I got a phone call today. Group of up to 20. After 10 min on the phone with the guy I suggested the DZ on the other side of town. In the spring my patience is better.

  24. No pilot is doing or should be doing Negative Gs. Crap flies all over the cabin during Negative Gs. During the push over after the jumpers have left the aircraft may get slightly less than 1 G but not near 0 G. as the aircraft reaches the max speed the pilot wants to go then he will pull back slightly increasing the g loading for a short time but usually not more than 1.5 gs for 10 sec. The aircraft remains at this stabilized speed and rate until the pilot must level off for the pattern or flare.
    The dramatic looking maneuver seen where the plane passes the jumpers. After the last jumper leaves the pilot rolls the aircraft and lets the nose fall. The roll during the fall keeps positive gs on the aircraft thought out the maneuver. Done correctly and a glass of water would stay on the dash. Done incorrectly the pilot could over speed and or over positive G the aircraft.
    King Airs are sleek aircraft and have a higher Vne speed than other jump ships so that means that they can descend at a faster airspeed and can have a very high rate of descent and stay in safety margins.
    A skydiver actually falls pretty slow compared to some planes I have flown.