beezyshaw 0 #51 March 14, 2006 Ditto what Jay says, I love jumping the porter. Tandems, too, are no problem when you just sit by the door, slide it open, swing your feet out, and skydive. The max load thing is a bit of an issue (esp. when some big people are on the load.) so when jumping the porter I try to get to the plane early to call "dibs" on a good seat. Being a pilot of tailwheel aircraft, and owning several taildraggers throughout the years, there is also something special about a Porter. That rugged bad-ass look is just a thing of beauty. And they ain't got no sissy steerin' wheel! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #52 March 14, 2006 QuoteI love jumping the porter. Tandems, too, are no problem Hell yeah, back flying tandem camera exits off the strut are my most favourite thing! Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johng3592 0 #53 March 14, 2006 At 6'3" and 240 I gotta question people who "can't stand" the Porter with 10 in it. Need to spend some days doing 182 loads to appreciate the Porter I guess. 10 ain't great, but it's not the end of the world if the seats are laid out right. I loved having the Porter here, but since we lost ours the PAC has been on line. And I hate to say it, but it's a better jump plane. Door is a cross between a Porter and an TwOtter door. Takes more jumpers to altitude faster for less fuel. That means it can keep running with less jumpers too. Jumpers and mgmt can be happy with that. I don't want to sound like a PAC PR guy, I'm just a jumper. Actually, I'm a huge fan of the Porter as a utility airplane. But the PAC is a purpose built jump plane. And it's at least as ugly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,995 #54 March 14, 2006 >At 6'3" and 240 I gotta question people who "can't stand" the Porter with 10 in it. When I was doing tandems out of one, I once connected a tandem and realized I could not be 100% sure that I had connected the student to me and not the TM next to me. (This was a load of 10.) And there was simply no room to move anywhere to check. I started thinking - what if we are connected, and he goes? He was a 6'5" former SEAL, so he'd be dragging my bony ass out the door too. Does he throw the drouge? Do we just start unhooking things until we're free of each other? Do we try to discover if one Set-400 will land four people? Once people started getting out we got a few inches and I could see we were clear, so no problems. But after that incident I refused to do tandems out of that thing with any more than 8. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rocketdog 0 #55 March 14, 2006 QuoteI'm guessing that was with all floor seating? IMO its easier to fit 10 in a Porter with side benches than 8 in one with floor seating. well not really, there was a bench on the back wall (closest to the tail). 2 barely fit due to rigs on our back, but if we had to fit 8 people, we'd SOMEHOW cram 3 on the pseudo-bench. the rest were on the floor & 1 in the copilot seat (turned around). make sense? anyway, if you even had to put 7 hefty people in, it was a squeeze. but don't get me wrong, it was an efficient ride to do larger and small formations out of..... ~hollywood see the world! http://gorocketdog.blogspot.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakee 1,497 #56 March 14, 2006 Quotewell not really, there was a bench on the back wall (closest to the tail). 2 barely fit due to rigs on our back, but if we had to fit 8 people, we'd SOMEHOW cram 3 on the pseudo-bench. the rest were on the floor & 1 in the copilot seat (turned around). Yep, thats what I meant by all floor seating (forgot to mention the back bench). I did most of my first 50 jumps out of a Porter like that and 8 was a real squeeze. I got 20 or so jumps out of a side bench Porter over New Year and it is so much easier to fit people in. 10 is still a squeeze, but better than 8 in the other configuration. There was even space to zip up our wingsuitsDo you want to have an ideagasm? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenister 0 #57 March 14, 2006 loved it.. fast to altitude huge door and seating wasnt ever really an issue even full.. (waaaay better than any cessna ive been in) i'm still sad Eloy sold theirs.. seemed like they were willing to put up alot more 'light loads' with it around...____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnny1488 1 #58 March 14, 2006 We still have one year round, but I think it's just a left over from the days when the owners had 9 of them! It's great for iffy weather days when we dont have enough for the otter. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #59 April 1, 2014 I got a sneak pre-view of the new Pilatus jump-plane when I was in Switzerland last year. They told me to keep quiet until they introduce it at a trade show this week, but now I can tell you about this new jump plane! I have been bursting at the seams! Pilatus flew their Pilatus PC-13 Bernese into Yverdons-les-bains one sleepy Tuesday morning. From a distance, it looks like a cross between a Cessna Caravan and a C-130 Hercules. The first thing you notice is the huge, 5-bladed propeller. The second thing you notice is the lack of wing strut. The third you notice ... er don't notice ... are the lack of wing struts. The fourth thing you notice are the massive undercarriage sponsons, Finally, you notice the T-tail. That huge propeller turns so slowly that you only hear it for the first minute or two after takeoff. When I asked the Pilatus test-pilot if it was another Pratt & Whitney PT6A engine he tried to change the subject. The PC-13 Bernese is the first airplane that Pilatus has built in decades without a trusty Canadian turbo-prop engine. But when I persisted with my questions, he admitted that it was a new General Electric turbine, built in he old Walter factory in the Czech Republic. he explained that a propeller brake was a major design goal. They originally got the idea from some Canadian bush pilots, who had installed propeller brakes on Twin Otters. It seems that they got tired of holding a propeller blade until warm oil penetrated the prop hub (preventing over-speeds) ... something about minus 40 degrees being a mild day in the Canadian Arctic. Pilatus managed to get their hands on a TXed PT6A engine, with the Canadian STCed prop brake, but P&W was not interested in manufacturing new engines with prop brakes. In classic corporate fashion, P&W never said no, rather they sent a lawyer named Flattery or Flatulence or some other old Quebec family name. The lawyer gave Pilatus so many delaying tactics ... meanwhile, GE/Walter sent them a prototype engine with a prop brake, digital fuel control, etc. The fuselage is a deep as a Caravan, with the baggage pannier installed, but when it gets closer, you realise that the baggage pannier is permanently installed and the cabin is a lot deeper than a Caravan, or Kodiak or PAC 750. It has a huge, 50-bladed propeller that you can barely hear. Mind you, it climbs so steeply that you only hear the propeller for the first minute or two. The next thing you notice is all the windows around and below the cockpit. Teh lower side windows, down by the rudder pedals remind me of a C-130 Hercules. The pilot can see almost straight down, so there is no excuse for sloppy spotting. The cockpit is quite high above the ground, but there are plenty of kick-steps and punch-in hand-holds. There is even a hand-rail just inside the tall door. The cargo door is almost 2 metres by 2 metres. You can slide in a pair or trio of LD3 containers with plenty of room to spare. Pilatus' original idea was to balance a pair of LD3 containers under the wing, with an empty LD3 container in the tail cone, but as soon as courier companies saw the prototype, they wanted to stuff in three FULL LD3 containers. Pilatus said "No problem as long as you fill them with pop-corn!" The cabin is almost as tall as a Skyvan. I (six feet tall) could stand erect near the rear door and only had to crouch a little under the wing. The T-tail is so tall that not even the clumbsiest wing-suiter could whack it. The Pilatus demo-pilot laughed at my comments, saying that they never even considered wing-suiters when designing the PC-13 Bernese. Instead, the plane is primarily designed for courier companies that want to do dozens of quick turn-arounds every night. Every aspect of the PC-13 ... all the innovations ... are optimised for quick turn-arounds. Even the tall T-tail was inspired by a clumsy truck driver, who whacked three Caravan tails in one week! Mechanics were the last to suggest the propeller brake. That was inspired by a Pashtun loader who walked into a spinning propeller. By the time the airplane owner (who prefers to remain nameless) had paid off all the surviving relatives, the local police chief, the district governor, the Afghan Ministry of Transportation, etc. they could have bought five new propellers! Just for giggles, he told me to walk towards the spinning propeller. Before I got within a dozen steps, whistles whistled, strobe lights flashed painfully loudly, air jets almost knocked me off my feet. I asked how much that warning system cost, and he laughed, saying that it was just a minor sub-routine of the theft-prevention system. Similarly, he flashed/projected the manifest on the fuselage beside the door, chuckling that the manifest was just a sub-routine of the advertising soft-ware. "See that tiny projector hanging under the wing-tip?" Then he ran a one-minute sales pitch, barking dog and all! He apologised for the prototype being only mono-chrome, but promised that production systems would project four colours on the fuselage. Even the retractable, fabric bench seats are just a sub-routine of the automated, cargo tie-down straps. In conclusion, skydivers may have been priority last when Pilatus designed the PC-13 Bernese, but the end result looks like ti is custom-made for a busy skydiving center! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sundevil777 102 #60 April 1, 2014 This deserves a new thread instead of bringing to life one from 8 years ago, hoping this isn't an April fool's joke.People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boogers 0 #61 April 1, 2014 I've located a top-secret photo of this new Porter design, which is attached below. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrewEckhardt 0 #62 April 2, 2014 BoogersI've located a top-secret photo of this new Porter design, which is attached below. Nope. It looks like this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boogers 0 #63 April 2, 2014 DrewEckhardt Nope. It looks like this Attachments: pc13.jpg (145 KB) What in dog's name is that pipe and orange thing hanging underneath the tail? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #64 April 3, 2014 Boogers*** Nope. It looks like this Attachments: pc13.jpg (145 KB) What in dog's name is that pipe and orange thing hanging underneath the tail? .................................................................................. My first guess would be a spin-recovery chute for spin testing. All that extra surface area forward of the center of gravity has got to de-stabilize the Antonov a bit ... er ... all that extra surface area might stabilize it so much that it refuses to stop spinning ... er ... something like that. My second guess is that it (the orange gadget) is some sort of magnetic anomaly detector for tracking capitalist submarines when they try to sneak up on the peace-loving Russian people ... in the Crimea. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #65 April 3, 2014 DrewEckhardt***I've located a top-secret photo of this new Porter design, which is attached below. Nope. It looks like this ........................................................................... Is that the Russian's first or second attempt at re-engining the Antonov 2? Back around 1990, they hung a turbine engine on the front end of an AN-2, but never sold any and lost interest. Then, last year (late 2013), they published photos of a second AN-2T prototype. The second conversion was motivated by Russian oil companies quitting refining aviation gasoline. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #66 April 3, 2014 BoogersI've located a top-secret photo of this new Porter design, which is attached below. ................................................................................ Nice try ... but the new Pilatus is a monoplane. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theplummeter 15 #67 April 3, 2014 I'm pretty sure the new Pilatus looks different: http://www.pilatus-aircraft.com/#275 I'll let you know when I get the type. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #68 April 22, 2014 My April Fool's joke was a twist on an old science fiction ploy: I wrote about the airplane that I want to jump out of five or ten years from now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tink1717 2 #69 April 27, 2014 I love the Porter when the load is light (4-6), [Took one to 16.5 in ~10 mins with 4 on board once] but when the load is heavy ( 8+), forget it. They are too cramped. They are a great STOL plane and have a large door that gets completely out of the way. Although there's a lot of criticism about the door being on the "wrong" side of the plane, I don't share that view. The down side would be operating and repair costs.Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off. -The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!) AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StreetScooby 5 #70 April 27, 2014 I have a few jumps out of a Porter. It can be cramped, but they get to altitude quick. Exit speed can be very slow. I was spotting one once, and I could have sworn we were going backward relative to the ground . For reasons I still cannot understand, every time I stand on the rail, I feel like I'm going to fall off something. It's a ridiculous feeling... We are all engines of karma Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #71 April 28, 2014 Tink1717 I love the Porter when the load is light (4-6), [Took one to 16.5 in ~10 mins with 4 on board once] but when the load is heavy ( 8+), forget it. They are too cramped. They are a great STOL plane and have a large door that gets completely out of the way. Although there's a lot of criticism about the door being on the "wrong" side of the plane, I don't share that view. The down side would be operating and repair costs. The one we had at NW Skydivers was modified with HUGE windows in the DOORS... one on each side.. We could hang a 4 way from each side. The engine matters too..... ours had a -27 and we always went to 15000' in about 10 minutes with 8 jumpers... we would only do 10 people if there were hop and pops going out lower and the rest of us then rocketed on up to 15K The airplane was sold to Thailand and got some interesting NOSE ART after she arrived there.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JHP_0hDseE&list=UUCF1jjClIRhjncD_rUwpQLg GAWD I miss that plane.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #72 April 28, 2014 Amazon The airplane was sold to Thailand and got some interesting NOSE ART after she arrived there.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JHP_0hDseE&list=UUCF1jjClIRhjncD_rUwpQLg GAWD I miss that plane.. Who knew Joe Satriani was jumping tandems in Thailand?"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smiles 0 #73 May 4, 2014 love our Porter Vancouver Skydiving, B.C. Canada, also a Kodiak is flying.eustress. : a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
