dbac 0 #1 June 5, 2014 Hey folks, I'm after a little assistance from the UK readers of this forum. Craig and I record a skydiving podcast for the UK and Euro scene. We've had a listener email from a US based gent who's moving to the UK and among other things is "getting prepared for Cessna dropzones". I'm actually struggling to think of more than one DZ in the UK that runs a small Cessna. Ok I'm a bit biased being North London based, with six dropzones within a 2hr drive, all with turbines, so I'm after some help here to research our answer to this fella. Please can you help fill in the blanks for me and also correct anything I've written that's not quite right? cheers Brian PS It seems I'm a turbine whore and it's not often I'm on a DZ that doesn't have one. :-D Beccles - Cessna Short Caravan Black Knights - Pilatus Porter Bridlington - Cark - Pac 750 Chatteris - Twin Otter Cornish - C206 Dunkeswell - Beech99 x2 Headcorn - Hibaldstow - From a fleet of Dornier G92 x4, Finnist x2, Cessna Grand Caravan x1 Hinton - Pac 750 Ipsden - Jersey - Langar - Cessna Grand Caravan x2 Netheravon - Cessna Grand Caravan x3 Paragon - Peterlee - Cessna Caravan Salisbury - Sibson - Cessna Caravan x2 and occasionally a Dornier G92 Skydive St George - South Cerney - St Andrews - Strathallan - Swansea - Swindon - Tilstock - Airvan Wild Geese (NI) - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quagmirian 40 #2 June 5, 2014 Bridlington - Airvan, last time I was there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbac 0 #3 June 5, 2014 cheers mate Beccles - Cessna Short Caravan Black Knights - Pilatus Porter Bridlington - Airvan Cark - Pac 750 Chatteris - Twin Otter Cornish - C206 Dunkeswell - Beech99 x2 Headcorn - Hibaldstow - From a fleet of Dornier G92 x4, Finnist x2, Cessna Grand Caravan x1 Hinton - Pac 750 Ipsden - Jersey - Langar - Cessna Grand Caravan x2 Netheravon - Cessna Grand Caravan x3 Paragon - Peterlee - Cessna Caravan Salisbury - Sibson - Cessna Caravan x2 and occasionally a Dornier G92 Skydive St George - South Cerney - St Andrews - Strathallan - Swansea - Swindon - Tilstock - Airvan Wild Geese (NI) - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kellja2001 0 #4 June 5, 2014 dbac Beccles - Cessna Short Caravan Black Knights - Pilatus Porter Bridlington - Airvan Cark - Pac 750 Chatteris - Twin Otter Cornish - C206 Dunkeswell - Beech99 x2 Headcorn - Hibaldstow - From a fleet of Dornier G92 x4, Finnist x2, Cessna Grand Caravan x1 Hinton - Pac 750 Ipsden - Jersey - Langar - Cessna Grand Caravan x2 Netheravon - Cessna Grand Caravan x3 Paragon - Peterlee - Cessna Caravan Salisbury - Sibson - Cessna Caravan x2 and occasionally a Dornier G92 Skydive St George - South Cerney - St Andrews - Strathallan - Swansea - Swindon - Tilstock - Airvan Wild Geese (NI) - Chatteris - Twin Otter / Nomad (I thought?) Strathallan - 3x Cessna 206 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #5 June 5, 2014 Dunks also has a Caravan in addition to the (is it 2 or 3 now??) Beech 99's. The Beech's being the primary aircraft, quicker even than the Swallows' G92's and with a nice big door compared to what you often see on Beech's. Think he'll almost be lucky to find a 206 or 182 these days, never mind a DZ that operates one as their only aircraft. PS - VERY well done with the podcast. I've just finished the first 4 and I'm enjoying them greatly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
degeneration 5 #6 June 5, 2014 Swansea is a (grand?) caravan. It can fit up to 16 people, so think it is a grand. You not use UKS anymore dbac?Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoneCodFishing 24 #7 June 5, 2014 Headcorn - Caravan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Backintothesky 0 #8 June 5, 2014 Headcorn also had a Britten-Norman Islander when I used to jump there. Don't know if it is still there. Thing was held together with scotch tape as far as I could see. Great response to "why do you jump out of planes?"........."have you seen the plane we ride up in" *points to Islander* GoneCodFishing Headcorn - Caravan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Willi91 0 #9 June 5, 2014 As far as I know, Swindon has an Airvan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoneCodFishing 24 #10 June 5, 2014 Still there. One of the few planes where wearing a parachute is as much for in-air safety more so than for the actual jump when you finally get to altitude. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Backintothesky 0 #11 June 5, 2014 I'm very fond of that plane. I particularly liked the fact that the door was (and I guess still is) held open by a bungee cord! hehe. GoneCodFishing Still there. One of the few planes where wearing a parachute is as much for in-air safety more so than for the actual jump when you finally get to altitude. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbac 0 #12 June 5, 2014 degeneration You not use UKS anymore dbac? Nobody was home. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbac 0 #13 June 5, 2014 Thanks for all your comments folks. I've been informed that the BPA mag includes the planes available at each DZ in the DZ map at the back. (However it doesn't appear to be on the BPA website.) I'll update later with all your comments and include those from the mag too. cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbac 0 #14 June 5, 2014 mr2mk1g PS - VERY well done with the podcast. I've just finished the first 4 and I'm enjoying them greatly. Thanks buddy. We're pretty new so after constructive feedback. Once you've caught up if you could PM me with the bits you love and the bits you'd prefer not to hear. cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoneCodFishing 24 #15 June 5, 2014 Clicking through here http://www.dropzone.com/dropzone/Europe/United_Kingdom/index.html it seems to list aircraft, though not sure how up to date that is Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mcpep 0 #16 June 5, 2014 Black knights now jumps the Blackhawk (souped up Grand Caravan?) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joellercoaster 6 #17 June 5, 2014 Today's UK plane pedantry: G92 is not, in fact, a kind of Dornier. Those 4 awesome planes are Dornier 28s with a bigass engine upgrade :-)-- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #18 June 5, 2014 Tell that Yank to move to Switzerland where the smallest jump-plane is a Pilatus Porter! Hah! Hah! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamUK 3 #19 June 5, 2014 Airvan at skydive st george Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bjergbestiger 0 #20 June 5, 2014 dbacCraig and I record a skydiving podcast for the UK and Euro scene. We've had a listener email from a US based gent who's moving to the UK and among other things is "getting prepared for Cessna dropzones". Thanks Brian. Just to clarify, I’m not exactly concerned about transitioning to a Cessna DZ. Going from an Otter to a 206/182 is going to suck at first, I’ve accepted that. On the bright side, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to make new friends when I’m on the ground and on the ride up. The three Scottish DZs on the Dropzone Finder appear to be Cessna operations, but that information hasn’t been updated in a while. I certainly appreciate everyone’s updates though! I might have to make a trip down south if I can afford it – I’m a postgrad student (i.e. poor) with no car. In all honesty, I’m rather excited to start jumping at a smaller DZ. I don’t know why specifically, but I’m excited. Cheers, Billy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbac 0 #21 June 6, 2014 From Skydive The Mag that came out yesterday. (50th anniversary edition) www.skydivethemag.com Beccles - Cessna Short Caravan Black Knights - Blackhawk Caravan Bridlington - GA8 Airvan Cark - Pac 750XL Chatteris - Twin Otter, Nomad Cornish - C206 , guest aircraft Dunkeswell - Beech99 x2 & Cessna Caravan Headcorn - Cessna Caravan, Islander Hibaldstow - From a fleet of Dornier G92 twin turbine x4, Finnist SMG-92 single turbine x2, Cessna Grand Caravan x1 Hinton - Pac 750XL Ipsden - Cessna Grand Caravan, Islander Jersey - Cessna 206, guest turbines Langar - Cessna Grand Caravan x2 Netheravon - Cessna Grand Caravan x3, guest aircraft Paragon - Cessna 182 Peterlee - Cessna Grand Caravan. Cessna 182 Salisbury - Airvan, Cessna 206 & 172 Sibson - Cessna Caravan x2 and occasionally a Dornier G92 Skydive St George - Airvan South Cerney - Cessna Caravan St Andrews - Cessna 185, Turbo Cessna 206 Strathallan - Cessna 206 x3, guest turbine Swansea - Cessna Caravan Swindon - Airvan Tilstock - Airvan Wild Geese (NI) - Cessna 206, Cessna Caravan 12 small Cessnas amongst 26 UK DZs (not inc Weston as I don't know what's going on there right now except "not much") Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbac 0 #22 June 6, 2014 JoellercoasterToday's UK plane pedantry: G92 is not, in fact, a kind of Dornier. Those 4 awesome planes are Dornier 28s with a bigass engine upgrade :-) Not according to Hib who supplied the mag with their info. Of course, something could be lost in translation but I've gone with what's in the mag rather than what some "crazy" on the internet says. ;-p Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbac 0 #23 June 6, 2014 bjergbestiger Thanks Brian. Just to clarify, I’m not exactly concerned about transitioning to a Cessna DZ. Going from an Otter to a 206/182 is going to suck at first, I’ve accepted that. On the bright side, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to make new friends when I’m on the ground and on the ride up. The three Scottish DZs on the Dropzone Finder appear to be Cessna operations, but that information hasn’t been updated in a while. I certainly appreciate everyone’s updates though! I might have to make a trip down south if I can afford it – I’m a postgrad student (i.e. poor) with no car. In all honesty, I’m rather excited to start jumping at a smaller DZ. I don’t know why specifically, but I’m excited. Cheers, Billy Yup, cool, it's well known that some of the smallest DZs can be the friendliest. Also, we had answers/comments to all your other points and questions but this answer needed a little research. :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamUK 3 #24 June 6, 2014 dbac***I've gone with what's in the mag rather than what some "crazy" on the internet says. ;-p From wikipedia it is indeed a dornier 28 but the G92 variant modified by a Slovakian company. So there you go... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
