sducoach 0
ATC requests (read that requires) pilots to provide>
two minutes to exit
skydivers away
canopies open
canopies on ground
all with location in relation to the airport and altitude. I've asked our pilots to advise of the birdman flights to ATC with "estimated" reports and flight pattern area.
Our DZ is very rural however, we constantly have flyovers and flythroughs by non-radio aircraft. Look down, look up, look around birdman.
Blues,
J.E.
two minutes to exit
skydivers away
canopies open
canopies on ground
all with location in relation to the airport and altitude. I've asked our pilots to advise of the birdman flights to ATC with "estimated" reports and flight pattern area.
Our DZ is very rural however, we constantly have flyovers and flythroughs by non-radio aircraft. Look down, look up, look around birdman.
Blues,
J.E.
James 4:8
QuoteATC requests (read that requires) pilots to provide>
two minutes to exit
skydivers away
canopies open
canopies on ground
all with location in relation to the airport and altitude. I've asked our pilots to advise of the birdman flights to ATC with "estimated" reports and flight pattern area.
Our DZ is very rural however, we constantly have flyovers and flythroughs by non-radio aircraft. Look down, look up, look around birdman.
Blues,
J.E.
Yes, and think of all of the rural dropzones that really don't have to deal with ATC as closly as the saturated coastal airways gobbled up by several 30 mile area overlapping "approach" systems. These may be dealing only with a "center" that may cover the area of several states in some part of the country. Pilots have the option of not contacting them at all. Hell I use to know pilots that would fly way out of there way to skirt ATC and use corridors as much as possible , threading the needle, to avoid having to talk to anybody, yet fly in some of the most congested airspaces in the world. This is getting harder to do BTW but still happens.
This is just the general aviation world, ask the jump pilots at Elsinore about sailplanes and hangliders near their dropzones. No radio and no way to get reports of other traffic, and invisible in the case of hang gliders.
At a tiny grass strip dropzone where I started static line progression back in the mid eighties. We shared the field with gliders and aerobats. I remember once being under canopy with the aerobatics box right behind, the aircraft was close enough that I could tell he was running a pretty rich mixture by the smell.
billvon 3,116
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>Such information is obviously not enough concerning birdmen who
> might be flying their own patterns near the airfield traffic circuit.
?? A warning that there is traffic in the area is more warning than many pilots get about other traffic. Keep in mind that at most DZ's, pilots can fly by without talking to ATC, having a flight plan or even a unique squauk. At rural DZ's, some aircraft don't even have radios or transponders. (Perris and Otay have this issue with ultralights.)
As skydivers, we are VFR traffic, which means see-and-avoid. It's our job to see and avoid other wingsuits as well as other aircraft. Since we have far more control over our trajectory than normal freefallers, we have that much more ability to dodge aircraft. But we can't do that if we don't see them, so I think it's important to keep our eyes open.
> might be flying their own patterns near the airfield traffic circuit.
?? A warning that there is traffic in the area is more warning than many pilots get about other traffic. Keep in mind that at most DZ's, pilots can fly by without talking to ATC, having a flight plan or even a unique squauk. At rural DZ's, some aircraft don't even have radios or transponders. (Perris and Otay have this issue with ultralights.)
As skydivers, we are VFR traffic, which means see-and-avoid. It's our job to see and avoid other wingsuits as well as other aircraft. Since we have far more control over our trajectory than normal freefallers, we have that much more ability to dodge aircraft. But we can't do that if we don't see them, so I think it's important to keep our eyes open.
Squawk 1200 and fly on, mister. 
Aviatrr 0
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