twatterpilot

Jerry wins the internet today. Tom, ROTFLMFAO Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming... Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

Ill never admit to anything... Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

You should know this shit Bagel.... Come on, don't you remember the BS we went through getting the damn radio panel approved on the Stearman... Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

If your door shatters when cold, you either used Plexiglass or another type of cast or extruded acrylic and NOT a poly-carbonate like name brand Lexan. For what it is worth, you CAN use SOME name branded Lexan and Plexiglass products that have the Mil-Spec listed on them. Lexan Blue and Red are two examples, and can be ordered through Lowes, but you will pay a premium. All Plexiglass branded Acrylic is MilSpec, but is very expensive. You generally use Plexiglass for molding windshields and fixed aircraft windows. If you want flexibility in all temperatures you need to use a Poly-Carbonate like Lexan. It has better flexibility and cold weather performance. The downside to the poly-carbonates is a much lower scratch resistance due to it's softer structural make up. The upside is its much better machine-ability and higher tolerance for ham handedness when being worked. Acrylics are optically superior, but require edge polishing via flame or increasingly finer grades of abrasives, are much harder to drill, are much stiffer, harder and can be polished. So yes, it does matter. That is why the last set of jump doors I made were required to have the manufacturer and part number of the poly-carbonate to be spelled out in the 337 by the approving FSDO. What it boils down to is every FSDO is different, and every FSDO inspector is different too. FWIW Milspec Lexan is Part numbers 9604 and F2104 and meets FAR 28.853 A and B. Plexiglass II-UVA and P55 are also Mil Spec as are most of the Acrylite and Polycast stuff. Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

You are all saying exactly what I am saying, just in different words. Make sure you are in compliance with your paperwork. I have done a fair few 337's and depending on your FSDO, they *MAY* require more data than you are used to providing, and that *MAY* make your paperwork more restrictive. I wouldn't have said it, if I have not experienced it. Lexan and Plexiglass have VERY different characteristics, and if Plexiglass (Cast cell acrylic) is used in a jump door in leiu of Lexan (poly-carbonate) you will have very different performances of the product. And yes, some FSDO inspectors can be a-holes about it. And some want more detail to the 337 than others. And a "minor deviation" requires a log book entry. IF that change is made without the appropriate log book entry, would you or would you not be in violation? You would be. Just like putting the regular doors back on a twin otter for a ferry flight. A log entry and changes to the W&B is required before flight. As is installing the copilots seat in the Cessna/King Air etc for pilot training.... Nothing can be done without appropriate changes to the paperwork. Too many years seeing jumpers grabbing stuff and moving it around to suit their personal desires... Pilots need to protect themselves from violation, as do the mechanics... Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

There isn't one to my knowledge. He was probably not in compliance, and it was probably not wise to publish pictures of it. If you find out more details, keep us posted. Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

Again, read the new Advisory Circular for FAR Part 105, AC105-2E. They go into great detail to explain how they recommend all straddle and floor seated occupants in jump aircraft should be restrained. 45 degree angle to double anchor cargo rail attach points to single strap Hooker style skydiver restraints on each side of each occupant. That is TWO (2) single strap seat belts PER OCCUPANT, passed through the hip area of the parachute harness assembly. EACH aircraft, when converted to a jump plane, MUST have those modifications approved by the FAA on a field approval (Form 337) for jumping, and in those modifications, you must show supporting data, from a previously approved 337, or through supporting engineering to back up your modification request. In those 337's you will see the data and drawings for floater bars, door removal, jump door installations, seating surfaces, occupant restraint systems (those will spell out HOW the jumpers are restrained, with what kind of restraint system and what manufacturer of those systems, and any deviation from that is against the 337 and is a violation) instructions for continued airworthiness (inspection criteria and maintenance intervals) and a pilot operating handbook supplement that spells out changes to aircraft redline speeds, stall speeds etc, as well as weight and balance changes, dynamic weight and balance during jump run, and sample loading diagrams. There is WAY more to making a certified aircraft a jump plane then ripping out the interior, slapping some belts on the floor and calling it good. Those belts, and all other modifications once approved are not permitted to be modified, moved, changed or altered in any way without FAA approval. Even something simple as changing from one seat belt style to another requires approval. And if your 337 lists a manufacturer for the seat belts, you are not permitted to change to a different manufacturer. Most 337's list generic parts for those so it is usually not a big deal, but it has the potential to be a problem. Another example is the roll up lexan door. If you used 3/16 inch thick Lexan panels in the original approval, you are not permitted to switch to 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch thick or even to go to Plexiglass being as they possess different weights, strengths, and breaking characteristics. When it comes to the FAA, there is very little room for change unless approved. Even moving the seat belts in the tracks 3 inches either direction from the position spelled out in the approval can trigger a violation. So, make sure your belts are in good condition, tags are legible, and in the proper location and use the damn things. Everybody get their own belts. That is not open for discussion or negotiation. A tandem master wearing a belt and clipping the lateral of the student to himself is not acceptable. And one very large southern DZ apparently has been telling their TI's that this is acceptable. It is NOT. Sharing of seat belts is NOT allowed. As for Cessna saying if the belts are approved to be used attached to the cargo track, they do not have a say in the matter, just as Mr Booth doesn't either. Those products are required to be manufactured to a certain standard with the intent that they will be used to attach seats, and restrain cargo and other types of restraints. Seats clip into the C Track, and belts are attached to the seat, therefore it is implied the tracks can handle the directional loads of the seat belts themselves. As those harnesses are intended to be used for skydiving, and certified for such, they are assumed to be able to handle the loads as it pertains to restraining the jumper to the aircraft, but also spells out that if the harness system is subjected to the stresses of a crash, it will be inspected for damage and future serviceability by a certified rigger. This is an excerpt from FAA AC 105-2E in regards to the harnesses taking seat belt loads. d. Restraint Belts or Tethers. Past experience and testing have shown the validity of attaching a restraint belt(s) or tether(s) to the parachute harness as part of the overall integrated restraint system. However, most manufactuers have not tested their parachute harness configurations to see if they can accept the load vectors that would be experienced during the actual use of this type of restraint configuration. Because of this, any parachute harness that has been subjected to actual use as part of an integrated restraint system must be removed from service and inspected by the manufacturer or a parachute rigger designated by the manufacturer to determine the continued airworthiness of the parachute harness. If the inspection shows that the harness is Airworthy, it may be returned to service. Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

Hookers belt systems don't have to be STC'ed, they can be installed and field approved on a 337 in the USA. As spelled out in the new AC105-2E, The FAA RECOMMENDS that those seated on straddle benches, or the floor use TWO (2) of those Hooker single strap style skydiver belts attached at a 45 degree angle to the seat track below, one on each side passed through the hip ring area of the skydivers main harness. Also, each occupant MUST wear a seat belt. An instructor wearing a belt and then using the tandem laterals to the student, thus sharing a single belt, is NOT permitted. Seat belts are REQUIRED to be used BEFORE aircraft movement on the ground, and through take off and Landing. This is not open for discussion or interpretation. See AC105-2E http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_105-2E.pdf And FAR 91.107 Wear your seat belts. Simple. Keeps you alive, and the pilot from getting violated by the FAA. Use them properly, use them all the time, and feel damn lucky the pilot doesn't do a flight attendant style seat belt use briefing like he/she is technically required to do before EVERY flight. Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

Not only against regs here, stupid as hell too. That is how people get dead, like last year here in Florida... 2 hanging on the outside of a Stearman for an airshow demo of all things and one falls the hell off and goes splat in a neighborhood. Stupid skydiver tricks never cease to amaze me sometimes... Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

I gotta call you out a bit on this one. How the hell did you jump an AgCat when it is, #1 a single seat airplane, #2 if it had an intact hopper for spraying, there was no where to put a second seat like Gene Soucy's ShowCat. #3 if all the above it true, then you just admitted to breaking about 2 dozen regulations in the process of your bandit jump... SMH Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

I find it funnier than hell that a bunch of skydivers are debating global warming after jumping out of jet fuel guzzling turbine jump planes all weekend... Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

The FSDO field approval process is in a slow death. As more and more FSDO people retire and become DER's and DAR's, whom you have to pay, often BIG money to certify something, you will find less and less FSDO people willing to sign off any 337. It is about the money. Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

www.diverdriver.com Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

Certified planes do crash. But certified planes have a far lower tendency to randomly shed parts. Of all the experimental aircraft out there, the CompAir is probably a poor choice for skydiving in my opinion. I wouldn't fly one for pleasure let alone for a high airframe stress job like skydiving. And the kits are built 7 miles away from me. I don't like how the structure looks, I don't like how the aircraft is balanced and I don't like how light duty everything is. For the same or less money, go buy a King Air and get an airplane that can handle more jumpers and actually has a stronger structure and more predictable handling qualities. Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider

Run away, far away. Didn't you read about the Finland crash? Stick to CERTIFIED airplanes. Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine Land, DHC-8 Commercial Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land Private Glider