xlh883 0 #1 June 15, 2014 Yesterday was my first day of taking loads up in the 182, solo. It has taken 6 weeks of waiting for slots to open up to do and complete my jump pilot training. Yes, my DZ has a training program. Very rare. Anyway, I took up 5 loads, 4 of which the DZ owner was taking a tandem student. Each flight was a chance for him to guide me and coach me and make me nervous. But I improved each and every flight on spotting and airspeed control. I was relieved at 2pm having the first flight just after 8:00AM. I was so exhausted and stressed at the end of the day. I even went to bed before 10pm. Exhausted! Thankfully right now it is one or two half days a weekend or less so I have time to get used to it and not get burned out. I have not had to work this hard at flying since I did my instrument and CFI ratings years ago. No one warned me this type of flying was so mentally intense. I even confused ATC once yesterday to! LOL The last load I flew I had to protect all of us. The 206 was 1000 feet or so above us and I had to go out of my way to stay out of the DZ while getting back towards it on the jump run. Stressful and made me nervous, but safety is very important. I want to take care of the people on my plane. In a week or two once I fly a few more loads and get a little more comfy, I plan to get my currency jumps done and start jumping again. So, please take care of your pilot. He or she is possibly working harder than you might know. Besides, some of us are on both sides of the sport. David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #2 June 16, 2014 Yes. Carry food and water out to the plane. If the young pilot is well nourished and fed, then he/she might have enough energy remaining to check fuel or oil levels or glance up final approach one more time before taxiing onto the active runway, or any of those dozen other little tasks that we demand of all our pilots. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NSEMN8R 0 #3 June 16, 2014 riggerrob Yes. Carry food and water out to the plane. If the young pilot is well nourished and fed, then he/she might have enough energy remaining to check fuel or oil levels or glance up final approach one more time before taxiing onto the active runway, or any of those dozen other little tasks that we demand of all our pilots. Amen to that brother. I made that mistake this weekend. Our last load on Saturday after all the work jumps was supposed to be a beach jump into a bar on Lake Michigan. We had a new pilot fly tandem loads all day long and we forgot to feed and water him. After the last tandem load he came out of the plane looking all green and sweating his ass off. He said he felt like he was going to throw up and couldn't fly anymore so we got screwed out of our beach jump. I'm pretty sure it was because we didn't take good enough care of him. It's weird that one of the people you need the most is the easiest to forget about when it gets busy. Pilots, if you need something, please say so! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sky_doggy 0 #4 June 16, 2014 I can second David's comments. I am training in an Otter at the moment and for newbie jump pilots this "busy shit".... Arriving at the jump point at the right altitude is like doing a precision ILS, except you have to talk to ATC, and the local CTAF and spiral down without hitting anyone or stressing the airframe and watch for jumpers in the pattern and the dumb ass's landing on the runway in front of you..... and you get to do it all over about 15 times in a day.... phew... Yup, keep us fed and watered. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
godfrog 2 #5 June 17, 2014 I can fly all day on boobies and water :)Experience is a difficult teacher, she gives you the test first and the lesson afterward Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DBCOOPER 5 #6 June 17, 2014 No water. You'll want pee breaks.Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydived19006 4 #7 June 17, 2014 We train our 182 pilots by putting the right seat in and having skydivers climb past. It's funny to me how so many pilots look at flying skydivers as no bid deal, simple. Just climb up, let em out, fly back down, 'bout like doing pattern work. That is until they get in the seat and learn what's required. As do all of us, we try to always consider keeping our pilots happy, nourished, and hydrated. If it's not happening, the pilot needs to speak up, shut down, etc. MartinExperience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else. AC DZ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrDom 0 #8 June 17, 2014 skydived19006 We train our 182 pilots by putting the right seat in and having skydivers climb past. It's funny to me how so many pilots look at flying skydivers as no bid deal, simple. Just climb up, let em out, fly back down, 'bout like doing pattern work. That is until they get in the seat and learn what's required. As do all of us, we try to always consider keeping our pilots happy, nourished, and hydrated. If it's not happening, the pilot needs to speak up, shut down, etc. Martin I think most pilots make it look easy so the perception is "oh they are just flying up and opening door then landing". But that "good spot" is not easy, getting it just right is finesse, and repeating that over and over is hard. Love your pilots. I never met the otter pilot but wish I did. The C182 pilot I had was an exceptional human being, though I have to admit I was the only one jumping the morning he took us up so I only did 2 jumps in like 3 hours... he could have cooked a meal and taken a nap between my student jumps ;)You are not the contents of your wallet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DBCOOPER 5 #9 June 17, 2014 Oh yea, don't be giving them a ragged out 40 year old rig to fly with. They just might need it someday.Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theplummeter 15 #10 June 17, 2014 DBCOOPER Oh yea, don't be giving them a ragged out 40 year old rig to fly with. They just might need it someday. Some of us are looking forward to jumping that National 24' flat (or maybe even conical!) so we'll have a cool story to tell later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xlh883 0 #11 June 19, 2014 skydived19006 We train our 182 pilots by putting the right seat in and having skydivers climb past. It's funny to me how so many pilots look at flying skydivers as no bid deal, simple. Just climb up, let em out, fly back down, 'bout like doing pattern work. That is until they get in the seat and learn what's required. As do all of us, we try to always consider keeping our pilots happy, nourished, and hydrated. If it's not happening, the pilot needs to speak up, shut down, etc. Martin Having skydived, I was never sure if being a jump pilot was simple or not. Now being on the other side, it is not. Each flight doesn't seem like a big deal while its happening, but over the day it i a lot going on. Do all 182's have the same type of jump door? We do most of the training at my DZ with the copilot seat out, except for airplane checkout. I think its because we do not have enough upjumpers to make enough traiing loads and have to mix in tandems. I can't see tandems getting out with the copilot seat in. David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xlh883 0 #12 June 19, 2014 Sky_doggy I can second David's comments. I am training in an Otter at the moment and for newbie jump pilots this "busy shit".... Congrats on the job! David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sky_doggy 0 #13 June 19, 2014 xlh883 ***I can second David's comments. I am training in an Otter at the moment and for newbie jump pilots this "busy shit".... Congrats on the job! David Ha ha, thanks but I do it to pay for my drug habit aka. Skydiving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayneflorida 0 #14 June 19, 2014 Don't worry it gets less intense shortly. I pay close attention on the experience of the jumpers boarding. Mainly the students (off AFF). Don't want to put them in a situation above their experience level. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #15 June 20, 2014 theplummeter ***Oh yea, don't be giving them a ragged out 40 year old rig to fly with. They just might need it someday. Some of us are looking forward to jumping that National 24' flat (or maybe even conical!) so we'll have a cool story to tell later ................................................................................. Take it from someone who has jumped a 24 flat, a 24 conical, a 26 conical and a wide variety of square reserves ... squares are better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theplummeter 15 #16 June 20, 2014 riggerrob ******Oh yea, don't be giving them a ragged out 40 year old rig to fly with. They just might need it someday. Some of us are looking forward to jumping that National 24' flat (or maybe even conical!) so we'll have a cool story to tell later ................................................................................. Take it from someone who has jumped a 24 flat, a 24 conical, a 26 conical and a wide variety of square reserves ... squares are better. I don't really want to ever ride the thing, it's just one of the things I tell myself while I watch all of my friends jump out of the airplane that I am stuck flying. While everyone is gearing up I fasten the B-12 snaps on the PEP and stand there giving gear checks while I tease everyone about their "huge new fangled containers" and it goes downhill from there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
