flaperon

I always thought that Triathlons were known for soft openings. I've owned my 135 since 1996 and it gets a little snappy when I don't bother to roll the nose but otherwise nice and soft. Perhaps the re-line job was not up to spec...?

Someone in WI needs to tell the pilot that hit the other airplane to get off of TV. I saw him on a show today all smug about the event. When the NTSB tags him for the cause of the accident, he'll look even more foolish. The pilot that got hit (and bailed out) is keeping a low profile. He probably can't stand to be in the same room as the "hero".

I'll throw my two cents in with another ultra-simplistic take on it... Within seconds after leaving an aircraft (other than a balloon) one will find oneself in a "lateral" zero wind environment whether the mode is free fall, under canopy, or whatever. If the jump is from a balloon, one will be in a zero lateral wind mode before exit.

The cost of acquiring the STC is passed on with the paperwork to make it legal so...two pieces of paper might cost $10K. How much do manuals cost?

I was wondering the cost of the STC, not the aircraft. As to "why", the answer may lie in there somewhere. If someone can get such an STC for the cost of an hour's flight time, perhaps it's for advertising or something. It is indeed an odd one... Oh... a G550 would not be a reasonable investment for a DZ. They live somewhere in the 30-40 million range with Twotters being more in the 1.5 million range. Its a good concept but... why?

I wonder how much that STC cost to develop as well as how much it costs, to buy. Very interesting...

Perhaps the original poster was not seriously considering the ramifications of the results of a skydive gone wrong. As a pilot, I see blissfully ignorant passengers all the time. I guess such a mindset makes for a better experience than what the "worryiers" may feel (as long as things proceed per the plan, of course)...

LOL. I'm more likely to tell the optimisic dz rep on the phone when/if jumping will occur.

Consider learning the aviation forecasts and observations. They are coded but are detailed with regards to wind/cloud height/visibilty ect. Some sites decode them also. Google "METAR" and "TAF"...

I would think that a jumper with both African and American citizenship would be fairly rare. But, I'm sure there are some...

I like to know the weather better than the DZ or, as least as good as the pilot. I hope that others do too...

Here's a nice chart that summarizes cloud heights. The circles are basically reporting stations. A circle with nothing filled in means a clear sky. The darker the circle, the closer to full overcast with the height of the overcast printed below as the cieling height in hundreds of feet above sea level. Shaded areas equal IFR conditions...no skydiving. It's nice to check this before heading to the DZ or at least to see if your friends across the country are able to jump...:) I think it updates every three hours. http://aviationweather.gov/data/iffdp/2020.gif?0123201122319

It's not the medical emegency that's the problem, it's the damage that's done when a larger airplane hits the ground. The rulemakers had to draw the line somewhere... It's a mystery to me that flying a 160HP C172 apparently makes a pilot more prone to medical emergency than flying a light sport aircraft. Maybe a medic can explain. Then again, it's a government regulation so it doesn't have to make sense.

From the saftey of my computer, it would have been impressive to see him get the first loop of the strap through, pull, then hold the folded strap tightly against itself during deployment. The leverage gain would have probably be more than adequate.

No worries...he just needed another 20 seconds to get the strap secure.

This thread is an interesting chain of events. I hope you get your logbook back...

I fly airplanes for a living and like to hop out of one every now and then. I don't care for relative work and don't go to the DZ for any social reasons but the people are indeed great. I suppose if I could fly myself to altitude then jump that would be fine. I own a single seat airplane and consider the operation of it and jumping to be merely different means of exploring the sky while enjoying the technical aspects of both pieces of equipment...

The advice was to simply check the policy. I have two aircraft policies that will not cover skydiving ops. I'd bet that if things boiled down to the insurance company possibly paying a claim, the reliance of the idea of prohibition of skydiving ops as a "scare tactic" might be an unwise gamble for the insured... I don't personally know about that, either way. Normally for insurance to be valid one does have to still be in weight & balance, follow the air regs, not be using the aircraft commercially (unless the insurance is for that), etc. One aircraft policy I had, advertised that that company had few restrictions, unlike some which might exclude formation flying, aerobatics, dropping things from the aircraft, etc. To what degree that is typical or a scare tactic I don't know. So it is indeed possible that skydiving would be excluded, but not necessarily so.

Have your brother read his aircraft insurance policy (if he has one). Chances are skydive operations will invalidate the insurance...

Was that you who had the cutaway...?