Piloting for Skydivers

PILOTING FOR SKYDIVERS

1989 or so. At least that’s when I was flying jumpers at California City, California

The fear of falling is common among humans. A fall of just a

few feet at the least provides a fright, and at the worst, death

or paralysis. The very feeling of falling is alien because it is

something, due to the consequences, that a lifetime is spent

avoiding. Under controlled conditions falling can be used as a

thrill vehicle. Speed in any form is exciting because of the ever-

threatening sudden stop. Skydiving is flying in a long fall--

120mph. straight down. In l975 in Zephyr Hills, Florida, one of the

most active drop zones in the U.S., I began to explore my fear of

falling by taking a beginning static line parachute course. On the

third jump I began paying more attention to those staying in the

plane than jumping out and the logic of it all began to escape me.

The pilot of the plane became the object of envy. He didn't have

to jump out. I developed a keen interest in flying in an airplane

rather than out of one. It is ironic that after 12 years of

agricultural, charter, ferry and instruction flying, I eventually

became a pilot for skydivers and got to watch them jump out instead of me.

Skydive piloting, like agricultural or any other sort of

specialized flying is a learned skill. There aren't any schools for

it outside of the two hundred and eighty or so drop zones in the

United States. Although the rudiments can be learned within the

first few hours with adequate coaching, it does take a few more to

become proficient with the finer points. It is an excellent

opportunity for the commercial time builder and, in certain

circumstances, for the private pilot.

Parachute Operations are organized, either commercially, or

under the auspices of a private club. The particular organization

I flew for is organized as a club and club members who hold private

pilot licenses can drop jumpers, not withstanding the fact that the

F.A.A. views the flying hours gained as compensation and so

clearly, the private pilot versus the commercial ticket holder must

not be in the running for a professional career in the piloting

game. There are no minimum flying time requirements beyond those

of the common sense of the drop zone operator and insurance

underwriters, but understandably, the private pilot whose ink is

still wet on his license may want to log a few hundred hours prior

to asking jumpers, most of whom are afraid of take-offs and

landings, and generally anything inside of an airplane below

jumping out altitude.

One of the first lessons is the absolute necessity for smooth

flying. A lot of these free-falling sky devils are scared to death

of airplanes. They would prefer an elevator, and they are crazy for

balloons. Maybe it is going fast near the ground, all so necessary

in a fixed wing craft that rubs them. For them going fast near the

ground after they jump out means their chute didn't open. I suppose

fixed wing takeoffs are faintly reminiscent of the dark side of the

sport. "How was your day skydiving Honey"? " Man, am I beat. Chute

didn't open." Although essential equipment is duplicated and

malfunctions are extremely rare, a series of preflight equipment

checks are made, all to prevent going fast near the ground. I

wondered what the thrill was after 1000 jumps or so. One responded

"...60 second fall to Earth is ecstacy. It is only there that I

have total freedom without any possibility of outside interference..

It is simply me and my chosen environment; total independence."

That statement could be the preamble to the skydiver pilot's

constitution for if he is to serve them to the best of his ability

there are a number of skills to be honed. Word of pilot complacency

burns like wildfire through a dropzone, and other drop zones also.

A pilot who fails to show adequate progress in the task of getting

them high quickly and efficiently will soon find himself with no

one to fly with. Skydivers tend to be quite vocal about any

dissatisfaction they have with their pilot, and lavish in their

praise for a good one. Piloting for skydivers is certainly

beneficial in regards to immediate feedback. He'll seldom get the

chance to ask: "How am I doing"? Parachutists may or may not be

pilots, but like any passenger they know what they want, or don't

want.

Although the larger zones around the country operate seven

days a week; it is the weekends that are busy; then there are the

"Boogies". A boogie is an intense skydiving meet, sometimes

involving competition, and most prevalent on the holiday weekends.

When they tell me to bring my lunch I know it is going to get busy

up and down like an elevator boy, daylight to dark.

At boogies I have met the most unbelievable assortment of

people possible anywhere; lawyers and doctors and ditch diggers,

movie people, paper hangers, engineers, housewives, intelligentsia

contractors, physical perfectionists, writers, paraplegics. They

have all discovered the thrilling sport of not going fast near the

ground and are only concerned with enjoying each others company an

having a good time. The sport has evolved technologically and

professionally to the point where it is no more dangerous than

wrestling alligators...JUST KIDDING!  Most are not pilots, but they are fliers

conscious of all of the safety precautions that both occupations

imply.

There are a number of initial questions concerning the art of

putting people out of an airplane, and one of the ways I answered

some of them was to place myself, literally, in the skydiver's

position and attend the four hours of initial classroom and

practical training and then to make a freefall jump with two

jumpmasters--from 12,500 feet AGL.

The experience can be likened to my first hour of learning to fly

an airplane: total sensory overload, but an experience that

emphasized to me the importance that skydivers attach to each of

their jumps. It is a 30 minute plane ride up to altitude in a

Cessna 206, and only a 60- second flight for them to the ground,

or hopefully, 2500 feet above it, and they log each one;

optimistically as an enjoyable experience. If it isn't I don't want

it to be my fault.

The very first question I asked was not about the airplane at

all, but about why only 12,500 feet? Surely higher altitude result

in a longer free-fall. The answer lies in the cost-benefit ratio

of flying to and falling from a higher altitude. The air is

beginning to get thin up there and the time and expense of gaining

higher altitude is weighed against the extra free fall time gained

Simply put, 12,500 feet is the point of diminishing returns.

Aircraft performance begins to suffer and once out the door the

jumper falls faster through the thin air than at a lower altitude

while paying a progressively higher price for the privledge.

Additionally there is the added expense of oxygen equipment

required by F.A.A. regulations for the pilot above 14,000MSL and

the passengers at 15,000. Piloting for skydivers is covered in

F.A.R. 105. and it is considerable in the assignment of pilot in

command responsibilities. After reading about the responsibilities

of the pilot in command of a skydive aircraft I became concerned

enough to cover my bases with a thorough review of part 91 also.

Skydivers pay higher dollars to go to higher altitudes. On a

typical load of jumpers the pilot may have one to drop at 3000

feet, another at 8500 and the rest at 12,500. These jumps are made

progressively on the ascent. It is of utmost importance that the

pilot does not descend in the drop zone. If a jumper expresses a

desire to jump at a lower altitude once the aircraft passes that

altitude he should be given two choices by the pilot in command:

either jump at the present altitude or land with the airplane.

Occasionally jumpers will pull the rip cord within seconds out of

the door and fly their canopy down instead of free-falling. One

thing is for sure. There is no doubt as to the direction they are

headed, and I'm not about to chance a mid-air tete-a-tete at their

halfway point. Never descend in the drop zone!

It may come as a surprise to learn how organized the

sport is. There are rules, procedures and protocol for every move

once the skydiver donns a parachute and begins to approach an

airplane. Three gear checks for their parachutes; they are taught

from their first jump training to approach the aircraft from the

rear and remain aft of the wing at all times; safe habit pattern

construction for those not initiated about the dangers of a

propellor, rotating or otherwise. There is an order in which they

board the airplane and an order for their exits; they understand

the weight and balance requirements of any particular aircraft the

fly in, and know enough to query the pilot if they don't. The chain

of command extends from the pilot. The jumpmaster takes orders from

the pilot and the rest listen to the jumpmaster. Helmets on for

take-off. Altimeters set, mine and theirs. They are so organized

to be occasionally amusing. One of my first flights I was finished

my cockpit pre-flight and sat there thinking that it would take

them time to settle down in the aircraft. After a few moments I

turned around to see them all sitting there between one another's

legs, front to back, hands in their laps, helmets on, waiting for

me.

I have noticed a marked release of tension, even to hearing

the odd sigh of relief upon reaching the first 1000AGL after

takeoff. In an emergency the pilot will have the jumpmasters full

attention as well as an unblinking quizzical look. Ordinarily with

experienced skydivers on board I have made up my mind, that if I

have an emergency above one thousand feet of altitude I'm going to

order an exit because that's when they know they can jump and will

want to anyway. If there are students or first jumpers aboard,

anything short of a major fire or structural failure I will order

them to remain with the aircraft. I've always wondered if they

will. With a little luck I'll never know.

Once "at altitude" the chore of spotting the aircraft becomes

the next task. Jumpers are going to be drifted with the wind after

exit and the procedure is to exit up wind of the drop zone. The

pilots job is to fly directly over the drop zone and into the wind

The jump master, through experience will then decide how far up

wind to fly before ordering the engine cut and the exit. The wind

can change as the day progresses, but if it doesn't change

appreciably the "spot" becomes common knowledge throughout the DZ.

On the fifth flight on my first day flying jumpers a jump master

asked me as he was boarding the aircraft: "Where's the spot?" "The

spot?" I replied. "It's that big round area down that road over

there with the wind sock in the middle of it". That's when I

learned what a "spot" was. The learning curve for flying skydivers

is initially quite steep. Simply learning to fly directly over the

drop zone, the pilot soon discovers, becomes a monumental task.

Even getting close enough to keep the jump master from shouting

turns less than 40 degrees takes a respectable amount of time. The

initial technique is to fly a base leg to the right of the DZ with

the wind 270 degrees relative then make the upwind turn when an

imaginary line drawn from the center of the DZ extends through the

seat of the pants; easier said than done at 12,500 ft. "40 LEFT!"

The next step is to extend the line to a point on the horizon and

the aircraft then turned to put the nose on the point. This also

takes a fair amount of practice because, for reasons of economy,

the arrival at the spot should be timed for the top of the climb

and the nose of the aircraft, high mountains not withstanding,

begin to cover the coveted point.

Another method is to approach the dropzone at a judicious

angle, somewhat less than 90 degrees and getting progressively less

as the target is reached. In that way the pilot will be at least

close to the correct heading, if not more than 40 degrees off, as

the zone disappears beneath the aircraft. With enough practice he

or she will improve to within an acceptable limit of "5 DEGREES"!

without stoking the jump masters patience beyond a smolder.

Understandably the difficulty of correctly spotting the

aircraft is inversely proportional to the altitude, and is somewha

easier at 3000 feet than at 12,500. Three thousand feet is the

altitude that is used to put the static liners out. These people

are usually first, second, or third time jumpers and are quite good

at hiding the fact that they have resigned themselves to die and

are in an advanced state of petrification. Most are not used to the

airframe rattling and engine noise that a bare bones jump aircraft

makes during takeoff and everything is new and strange and very

scary to them. The jump master never stops talking. One gets the

impression that it doesn't matter what he says, just as long as he

keeps saying nice things to them. No one that says nice things to

you is going to let you die. Unlike the experienced jumpers, who

can't wait to get out, these people can't wait to stay in. It is

certainly not a time for anything less than the gentlest flying the

pilot is capable of. Unlike the experienced altitude jumpers that

are diving, tumbling, yea leapfrogging out of the door, these

fledglings must sit in the door in a certain position, half hangin

out, waiting for the order from their jump master to exit the

aircraft. One way to help them through their ordeal and earn the

good cups of the jump master is to quiet the engine down as soon

as possible and to make the jump runs for each student at a reduced

power setting with shallow angles of bank. I can think of no

better way to drive a student jumper into a feint than to whip into

a 70 degree angle of bank while they are half hanging out of an

open door with little to hang on to. The pilot knows that they

won't fall out if he stays coordinated, but at the time they won't

be in the mood for logical explanations. There is a good chance

that you will be bringing them back with you and refunding their

money; unless, of course, the jumpmaster happens to be a fellow

like Billy Reed of Van Nuys California, who with over 12,000

student jumpers out the door, keeps them so amused and distracted

from the altitude that they exit in peals of laughter and keep

coming back for more.

Cessna offers a skydiving modification for its 206 and many

aircraft which do not have factory mods available are modified by

the operators to offer the performance required for the sport. With

the Marshall Stol Kit installed the performance of the aircraft is

close to the limits of the imagination. Using reduced engine power

about 13hg of manifold pressure and 2200 rpm at 11000 feet on a

standard day the aircraft will maintain altitude clean at 55 mph

indicated, and do 45 degree banked turns with just a little added

power. The mod doubles the lift coefficient, extends the glide

ratio from 7 to 13 and ups the stalling angle of attack to an

remarkable 35 degrees.

Other additions for the customized aircraft include a buffer

strip for the cargo door, and a pilot operated, wing-mounted 35mm

camera to freeze those never-to-be-repeated first jump expressions

Also, a skydiving aircraft can be tailored in other ways

toward efficiency and economy; specifically, setting up the

aircraft for a quick ascent and descent in a minimum of flying

time. During the climb, which is made at full power, considerable

right rudder trim is required for Vy (best rate of climb speed).

At altitude the jumpers are released and an

immediate descent is begun as the aircraft exits the drop

zone. The power and flying control settings at the top of

the climb will already be set for the descent if the pilot has

timed the top of the climb and reduced power over the spot. To

illustrate the scenario lets load all of the fuel in the right tank

and keep 10 gallons of emergency fuel in the left tank. In order

to maximize the descent rate and simultaneously prevent shock

cooling to the engine after the exit, we will drop 10 degrees of

wing flaps, close the cowl flaps, drop the nose to 120mph indicated

and descend in a left slip maneuver. The power is already set at

approximately 15 hg and 2200 rpm. The right rudder trim is already

set up for the slip due to the attitude in a full power climb, and

the aircraft will descend at the same power setting at about 1500

to 2000 fpm down for another load. Carrying the majority of the

required fuel in the right tank minimizes the chance of un-porting

the fuel feed to the engine during the slip while eliminating

buffeting in the door, which is on the right side of the fuselage.

Using this technique the C206 can operate for two and a half hours

between fuel stops well within the confines of VFR reserves. The

average time, up and back for a 12,500 ft. trip is between 40 to

50 minutes depending on the density altitude and about 25 minutes

for a number of jump runs for students at 3000ft.

Occasionally there are opportunities for cross country trips,

carrying jumpers to another drop zone or some pre-arranged

location. Additionally the more experienced ones make night jumps,

hurling themselves out into an inky blackness with only a chem-

light taped to their altimiters. Then there are the parties. There

is always an after hours party during a weekend of jumping. I'm

sure that is a rule of the sport, if not written. FAR 105 dictates

the same alcohol limits for skydivers as 91 does for pilots and it

is strictly adhered to.

Piloting for skydivers, besides offering an opportunity to

improve on basic skills, and indeed learn new ones, provides the

chance to meet a lot of quite interesting people from virtually all

walks of life who, I think, like to view themselves as a little

wild, some are, but most aren't; otherwise they would be wrestling

alligators. The minimum age is 16, but I have flown for a first

time jumper who was 77. Whatever drives them; they are certainly

a lot of fun to work for. Come to think of it-I once did meet a one armed

skydiver who raises alligators._