itllclear

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WACs are legal for VFR navigation and do not show drop zones. Certificated GPS databases are legal for navigation and don't show DZs. A briefing from a FSS specialist for a long x-country flight is most unlikely to mention DZs along the way.

FAR § 91.103 Preflight action.

Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight.

Unfortunately, most pilots are not aware of the ways to get ALL the information

Also, even on a check ride, a private pilot applicant can be 3 miles off course and still pass. A pilot flying with the precision required for the practical test, trying to avoid your DZ, could still wind up right over it.

As has previously been pointed out, the parachute symbol on the chart may not be right over the DZ.

Bottom line is that in most cases, aircraft flying from one place to another have as much right to the airspace as skydivers do. Therefore, we as jumpers should not have any expectation that the airspace be "sterilized."

Depending on the available radar coverage (in many places, ATC radar cannot pick up planes less than 5,000 feet AG) and how busy the controllers are, the best way for jumpers to avoid a "Close Encounter of the Last Kind" is to look before you leap.

I've gotten to be the pilot at the controls of a DC-3 landing on that runway!

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still have those family members and friends who do not agree with the sport at all.

what to do with these people?!

Cutaway!

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Behave yourself

That doesn't sound like a lot of fun.

Good to hear from you again. How (and where) are you?

BSBD

Harry

625 was often known as "Dirt Dive Doris." We used it for jam ups a lot. I think I was in it once when we didn't have to get out low due to a blown engine.

915 was sitting there for many years, sans engines, after the 1980 flood. Maybe that's the faded one.

Blue Skies!

Harry

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don't expect USPA to say shit about the bad guys,

They don't have to name names. They just have to show the pictures from the NTSB report.

Since NTSB has directly asked USPA to assist, it would be difficult for USPA not to publish these items. People might look at the single point restraints in their planes, and the other planes that already have better restraints, and make the decision to jump at places that have already spent the money.

If nothing else, it might get some more people asking the right questions.

BSBD

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My personal opinion is not much will really come of the recommendations made to the FAA

Agreed -- look how long it took to get changes to Part 105.

What might really help is if these recommendations become known in the skydiving community, and skydivers vote with their $ to jump at places that seem to be taking the right steps, and avoid the places that don't.

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Pilots need to speak up and stop taking this "we're building time so it's okay the pay is crappy" bullshit.... this summer I made about $3,000 in three months while both of the TM took home over $8,000 in the same time.,

Did you ask before the season started what you would be paid? If you didn't like it, why didn't you look for something else that paid better? Did you do a survey of what was being paid for pilots with your experience? If you didn't like it, why did you choose that career path?

Having put in time as a jump pilot, TM, vidiot, and AFF-I, I can tell you the wear and tear on your body as a TM or vidiot with still and video on your head is a lot worse than as a pilot. As you said " 20 loads in a day isn't that hard at all."

BSBD

Harry

#157. August 4, 1980 - the first weekend it was opened for legal jumping by the park service.

I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning. It's the Smell of Altitude!

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This is required where?

Americans with Disabilities Act:

III-4.3100 General. A public accommodation is required to provide auxiliary aids and services that are necessary to ensure equal access to the goods, services, facilities, privileges, or accommodations that it offers, unless an undue burden or a fundamental alteration would result.

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This is the same kind of jackassery that prompted putting brail on drive-up ATM's.

I was thinking more about requiring braille numbers on the keypad to open the door of an airplane hangar.

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I don’t know for sure, but I believe in 1971 the Boeing-727 was the only aircraft flying commercial routes with a T-Tail/Rear fuselage mounted engine configuration. If I’m wrong, I’m sure I’ll be corrected.

Although there is no date of manufacture listed for Perris' DC-9, the two with "N" numbers right after it were manufactured in 1969

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/mmsinqSQL.asp?mmstxt=302205A

And yes, I have personal knowledge that it is possible to jump from 127NK.

Looks like they get better deployments when they are NOT stable belly to earth.

We had a jumper on the DZ who's handle in the USMC was "Lizard." Something about his tongue.

"Bear" was a huge hairy guy, passed away from a heart attack AFTER a day of jumping about a year and a half ago.

Never knew how "Spider" got his nickname.

New all of them for amny years before I knew their real names.

One day it happened allthat all three left messages for me with the receptionist at my office at the bank for which I worked.

"Harry, do you have any friends with people names?"

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We have "Pig Fucker" at our DZ.

Was the pig a male or a female? Which was the jumper?

It's one thing if the jumper is into bestiality. It's another if the jumper is gay.

You've got a flight school? Don't ask!

"Harry, this is Ray from the FSDO."

Hang in there. Glad it seems Aiden is OK.

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Why did you propose or accept a proposal of marriage?

She reminded me about the $ we'd save by filing a joint return.

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I think the jumper made it sound a little easier than it really was

And the "Incidents" forum is filled with examples of people who didn't realize that.

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am a senior in college this year,

I was a senior in college when I made my first jump.

Still trying to figure out if I like it.

Figure it this way. If you spend your money on jumps you won't have it available to spend on drugs or other stuff that is easily as hazardous.

You'll wind up meeting some of the greatest people in the world, and traveling all over the world in their company.

You'll wind up with memories of sights that most other human just can't imagine.

You'll gain self confidence, as well as respect for the need to do things right.

Yes, it can get in the way of other things in life. But when you die, do you want to be saying "I wish I had," or would you rather be saying "I'm glad I tried?"

Welcome to the sky.

Harry

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as long as you know what you're doing

And there's lies the big issue.

Jumping in an unfamiliar DZ, not sure of the altitude difference between the DZ and the airport from which you take off, how to spot, setting up wind indicators, exiting that type airplane, best exit speed (too fast, you can't open the door; too slow stall and spin in) etc., etc.

Jan-


Is there some guy who wants your body following you around?

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Why is the taxpayer paying for their jumps?

because they are recruiting events to publicize the Army. "Gee, when I grow up I want to be like that."

Same as when the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds appear at Air Shows to promote those branches of the service.

Also the same as when you see the TV ads "Be All That You Can Be."

We tax payers pay for all of that.

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I still feel I missed a golden age in this sport!

There's no way to argue that the technical improvements in the sport in recent years are not incredible. Whether you're talking about equipment or performance, we weren't able to do the things that are being done today.

On the other hand, the 76 person nude ground star at the 1976 SCRambles, the jumps into Fran's Ranch, round robins, bandit jumps into the park at night, impromptu nude water jumps into the Colorado River in front of the Sundance, and yes, even splinting a broken leg with a beer carton and duct tape are memories I'll cherish as long as I live.