bchurch@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bob Church) (01/06/91)
In article <1991Jan4.173433.19204@cbnewsh.att.com> msb@hos1cad.ATT.COM (Mike Balenger) writes: >Should we, as skydivers, take a more active interest in the aviation >side of our sport? If so, how can we do so without pissing off all >the jump pilots, but still making sure that we're hopping into a >"perfectly good airplane". If you don't feel comfortable with a situation don't get on the plane. Otherwise I think the decisions should rest with the pilot. The pilot has been trained, and, if an accident occurs will be first on the scene. It's not like the pilot is an outside observer. Bob Church NFS#27 bchurch@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu
jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris) (01/07/91)
bchurch@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bob Church) writes: >In article <1991Jan4.173433.19204@cbnewsh.att.com> msb@hos1cad.ATT.COM (Mike Balenger) writes: >>Should we, as skydivers, take a more active interest in the aviation >>side of our sport? If so, how can we do so without pissing off all >>the jump pilots, but still making sure that we're hopping into a >>"perfectly good airplane". >If you don't feel comfortable with a situation don't get on the plane. >Otherwise I think the decisions should rest with the pilot. The pilot >has been trained, and, if an accident occurs will be first on the scene. >It's not like the pilot is an outside observer. Well...that's the idea, but like the rest of humanity you have the people who take their job seriously and those who cut corners. I recall with no particular pleasure watching a jump plane run completely out of fuel on takeoff roll. The planned jump was to have been at 4-man star from 12,000'. Preflight fuel check anyone? Thankfully the plane was just about to rotate, and was able to come to a stop on the (dirt) runway before running through the cemetery fence at the end. The four jumpers immediately exited, joined hands, and claimed a record for the world's lowest star. It turned out that the airplane was operating without any of the STC authorizations required for its use in this activity. The owner (who wasn't piloting on this particular flight) was a jumper himself and was on the DZ that day. What this translates into is that if you know the jump pilot to be reliable, you can trust him or her to do what's right. If you can't trust the jump pilot that well, do some checking before going up. You can say that the info is necessary for insurance or something like that, but remember that it's your ass that might get broken if something goes wrong. It's not much consolation to you if your estate is successful in suing the pilot. Joe Morris