Caravan, ouch!

[skyflyingbecca 0]

Yes, yes, I know most of you know this already, but I wanted to post a reminder.

Even though the Caravan is a high wing plane, the tail is proportionately lower than some other high wing jump planes.

I hit the back of my helmet on the tail of the caravan yesterday. The impact was relatively gentle compared to how bad it could've been.

I exited the plane, waited what I thought was a long enough delay, then popped open my wings and looked up to watch Bjorn's exit.

As I looked up, my head was smacked forward & down, chin to chest and my jaw and head still hurt. The helmet dispersed the impact over my whole head.

My helmet is a hurricane, & even though it looks like a flimsy fiberglass helmet, it helped tremendously.

The pilot felt the strike, or scrape, or whatever you want to call it, and did a thorough check when he landed. When I checked it out, it had a small scrape in the paint (forward to back) nothing structural, no dent.

My helmet looked remarkably good too. The top rear of my protrack holder is smushed, but that's it.

When I sought out the pilot to apologize for hitting his plane, (and potentially causing expensive damage) he mentioned it's happened quite a few times over the years.

I did a couple searches and it looks like it hasn't been brought up in a while, so I figured I'd share my experience.

Lessons learned/reminded:
1. Wait to pop open on certain a/c.
2. Wear a helmet.
3. If you have an AAD, remember to turn it on.

"I know it's friday night, but come on. Surely there's something better to do than yell at people on the internet?" - Tom A.

[LouDiamond 1]

Becca,
glad to hear you are alright and nothing bad happened to you or the aircraft. I doubt you will make that mistake again Now, turn to page 86, bottom of the page, and re-read that section,especialy the 6th sentence just to be sure

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[The111 1]

That obviously could have been much worse... glad you're ok.

At least you're no longer struggling with the dive-bomb-away-from-the-plane exits.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Glad you are o.k.

Unless its a tailgate, its better to take a longer rather than shorther delay before opening the wings. You can hit an the tail wing on a Twin Otter as well. I think it has happened before.

If the wingsuit flyer is horizontal when the wings are popped open, the chances of popping up are more than if the wingsuit flyer is head high on exit.

Another thing to watch out for is that sometimes pilots tend to dive as soon as everyone has exited or when they think everyone has exited(obviously not the issue in this case).

Kris.

[The111 1]

Quote

If the wingsuit flyer is horizontal when the wings are popped open, the chances of popping up are more than if the wingsuit flyer is head high on exit.

I'm not sure if I agree with this, Kris. I think a head high orientation generates much more upwards "pop".

When you exit a tailgate and plan to get above the plane, do you orient yourself horizontal, or head high? Every video I've ever seen of a highspeed exit done right, and firsthand experience, shows head high jumpers getting way above the plane.

Now, even if we disregard "pop" altogether, and just think about avoiding the wing, there is the obvious fact (implicit in the phrase "head high") that exiting head high puts your head closer to the wing than "head low".

All that said, I keep my head high on exit. But I keep my arm wings IN.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[tr027 0]

In my opinion, to some extent. If you're angle of attack is extreme postive, you stall and fall. If it's only slightly positive or 0 (horizontal), you fly and climb. Using the standard RW-type angle of attack, with no effort to get horizontal, you just catch wind/stall out.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Quote

When you exit a tailgate and plan to get above the plane, do you orient yourself horizontal, or head high? Every video I've ever seen of a highspeed exit done right, and firsthand experience, shows head high jumpers getting way above the plane.

All that said, I keep my head high on exit. But I keep my arm wings IN.

Sam(980) was doing this at Eloy in 2004-05 , he got horizontal and climbed way above the plane, I stepped back and spread all my wings...no pop... just pushed back real fast and on level with the plane.

Later at Zhills after the ZFlock N dock event, we were doing Hop-n-Flocks, I noticed that I was getting on level or just above with the horizontal stabilizer(and behind it) of the otter after opening my wings. My technique was to get out get horizontal and open wings.

This had been my side door airplane exit style for quite a while, I just got more and more comfortable with shorter delays and that made it more noticable. Also we were exiting first(a mile before the non-wingsuit exit point) and the Jumpmaster noticed it.

**Opinion**
Try various angles of getting above the air plane, you will notice that when you get too 'head high' you will just get pushed back. Horizontal to a bit 'head high' will get you above the air plane.

The only force that can lift a wingsuit pilot above the air plane is 'lift' . This comes from the top surface of the wing and if the position is so head high that not much air is flowing over it. You can't get very much above the airplane.

**Opinion**

Kris.

[RkyMtnHigh 0]

Glad you're okay my friend. Norm just told me today about this

my prodigy will be delivered in a few weeks so I'm definitely learning from your experiences.

_________________________________________

[ultraviolet 0]

Check out www.flybirdman.com . In the learning center is a section on aircraft exits. For the Caravan they recommend a 4 count for adequate separation.

[The111 1]

Quote

For the Caravan they recommend a 4 count for adequate separation.

I think using your eyes is much more important than counting, although I do tell students to count to 2 (AND look).

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[diablopilot 2]

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[mccordia 74]

The exits where I've seen people almost 'kiss' the horizontal stabilizer, to me 'seemed to be' about people exiting standing up, instead of flat/flying the exit.

When you exit, you're not falling away from the airplane that fast yet, but (because of your upright position) you do get a lot of push 'back' from the amount of surface exposed to the oncoming wind.
So in the 1st second after exit, you hardly loose any altitude, but DO get a 2 to 3 meter push backward, into the hard metalic parts of the airplane.

I don't know if this is the case, but this is just an observation I think I made, when it comes to exits like this, and close calls I've seen on some folks when it comes to the horiz. stabilo.

When you're flying the exit, and you do a proper job and manage to climb, the danger of hitting the stabilo is also there of course.
But I suspect most close calls don't come from these flying exits, but rather from standing up 'pushed back' exits..

I also think this, because when I fly the exit, my head is usualy a bit lower then my rig...and the tailstrike wouldbe on the lower part of my rig or my tailwing...as opposed to hitting your head...(which would indicate you're more upright)

Anyone else have any idea's on this?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Quote

The only force that can lift a wingsuit pilot above the air plane is 'lift' . This comes from the top surface of the wing ..blah blah.

Kris.

I know I am replying to my own post...

Some Theory

Kris.