diverdriver

Wow, sweet plane. Bet you get way up there on those long range cruises. I'm on the CL-200 Canadair Regional Jet. Love the glass. Probably not as fast as your Hawker but I AM faster than the 737 Guppies. Love going west bound out of ORD and passing them. But hey, they get paid more than me and are paid by the minute so who has the last laugh, eh? Chris

Straight in. FULL FLIGHT hands UP. That's on Zero-P material canopies. You need to do what aircraft do in turbulent air: INCREASE SPEED. You can only do that by letting it fly at FULL FLIGHT. Second, don't jump in conditions that require your full skill to survive. Is that in layman's terms enough? Chris

Ummm, there is no such thing as "a little ice". And after reading what the ramp personnel described as still being on the aircraft it sounds like a lot. I don't know what the weight of a square foot of 1/2 inch ice would be but over the whole aircraft it can be a huge amount. You just don't take off unless the whole aircraft is clean. Period. Chris

BS Aeronautical Science Airline Transport Pilot = ATP 4,500 total time 2,600 flying jumpers Certified Flight Instructor/ Instrument Instructor Chris Schindler

Yes, some are obvious, some are not. Sometimes there can be clues that would lead you to believe that an accident was inevitable and then it's just a string "in the moment". This is part of why this accident will be listed on my site. No, it didn't happen with jumpers on board. But it was a jump pilot and jump plane part of the time. I think in order to support jump operations or expensive aircraft we will see more operations run cargo. These will be challenges that could be seen by other jump pilots in the future. It should also serve as a warning to other jump pilots who take jumpers on "road trips" with the aircraft and aren't rated for the conditions they are flying in. Mark was totally rated to be running cargo and on instrument flight. And the conditions still got to him. Let's look at Salt Lake, Utah January 2001. King Air in a snow storm with jumpers returning from a boogie. Aircraft was not rated for instrument flying. The pilot was not current to be flying in instrument conditions. The NTSB report says the pilot had been known to "scud run". Pattern? Chris Schindler ATP/CFII D-19012 www.DiverDriver.com

Well, you know how they say that an accident is a series of events leading up to it like links in a chain. One.....thinking you can take off with ice still on the aircraft. That right there turns my stomach. There is no such thing as "a little ice". It's a clean wing or it's not. Two: receiving a report that a previous aircraft had declared an emergency due to ice in the same area tells me ya need to wait it out. Three: temperature on the ground was 30 F with precipitation which means the precipitation is VERY moist. The colder the air gets the less moisture it can hold. When running around near the freezing mark great care needs to be given for the potential of accumulating lots of ice on the airframe. Chris Schindler ATP/CFII

Looks like pretty solid aerodynamics to me. Chris

That's what I'm talking about. In your picture you show the wind as it flows over the ground. That is NOT relative wind. The relative wind is coming opposite the flight path of the canopy. In your picture you would have about a 5-10 degree POSITIVE angle of attack. You are thinking it is a negative angle of attack. Now, you can induce a negative angle of attack by pulling the front riser. Just because the nose of the canopy is pointed down from the horizon doesn't mean it has a negative angle of attack. If you had a negative angle of attack the canopy would dive forward trying to recover normal flight. When this happens on part of the canopy it can cause partial collapses and line twists. Chris

No, PM me again.

This is the preliminary report on the crash of a Cessna Caravan. The pilot was a well known jump pilot from Ohio. http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20020326X00397&key=1 Chris Schindler ATP/CFII D-19012 www.DiverDriver.com

Yah, PM me too. I missed what happend. Chris

Nah, you're missing my point. Sorry. The wind speed has nothing to do with a wing in flight. It is your speed through the air that counts. Called Airspeed. Now, 30 degrees down is your attitude. But, you angle of attack might be only 5 degrees. This refers to "Relative Wind". That is the wind direction (refering to wing in flight) opposite the direction of flight. Does this help? I'm trying to teach basic aerodynamics without aid of drawings and much time. Hope I can clarify this for you. Chris

Mountainman, PM me so I can tell you how to PM them.

I get exactly what you are saying. Everyone should pay attention to this next statement. ANY wing can stall in ANY ATTITUDE and airspeed. You are refering to attitude of flight. (30 degrees down) But that may not be what its' ANGLE OF ATTACK is. That the angle the wing makes with the direction of flight. Do I have you so far? If I don't the rest of what I have to say won't make sense. Draw a line from the trailing edge to the leading edge of the wing. The compare that line to the DIRECTION of flight. This is the angle of attack and a wing will ALWAYS stall at the same angle of attack. No matter what ATTITUDE it is in or airspeed. This is called the "Critical Angle of Attack". During a rotor encounter that critical angle of attack can be reached on part of the canopy and cause a partial stall. Chris Schindler ATP/CFII D-19012 www.DiverDriver.com

Louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Chris

Oh, thanks. Chris

Smith Mountain Lake, VA is the home of Adreniline Air Sports. Is this one of the DZ aircraft? Here is the whole FAA report: IDENTIFICATION Regis#: 8667T Make/Model: C182 Description: 182, Skylane Date: 03/24/2002 Time: 1900 Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N Damage: Minor LOCATION City: BEDFORD CO State: VA Country: US DESCRIPTION AIRCRAFT MADE FORCED LANDING IN A FIELD 1.3 MILES SE OF AIRPORT FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, BEDFORD CO, VA INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0 # Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: WEATHER: 1854Z 11005KTS 10SM CLR 18/M4 A3004 1954Z VRB 5KTS 10SM CLR 19/M4 A3000 OTHER DATA Activity: Pleasure Phase: Unknown Operation: General Aviation Departed: SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, Dep Date: 03/24/2002 Dep. Time: 1900 Destination: SMITH MT.LAKE, VA Flt Plan: VFR Wx Briefing: U Last Radio Cont: EAST RADAR Last Clearance: RADAR SVC TERMINATED FAA FSDO: RICHMOND, VA (EA21) Entry date: 03/25/2002 Chris

Ok, so what does AFAICT mean? Really, I don't know what this is. Chris

Yah, but 15 will get ya 20 Mark. Chris

John, what does AFIACT mean? Chris

" AIRCRAFT MADE FORCED LANDING IN A FIELD 1.3 MILES SE OF AIRPORT FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, BEDFORD CO, VA" It was a Cessna 182. Found this on the FAA site this morning. It is at an airport where there is a DZ. Don't know if this is associated with the DZ operation. Could someone clear it up for me? Chris Schindler ATP/CFII D-19012 www.DiverDriver.com

Sorry Phree, but it's "Marana" not "Manara", AZ. Details. Details.

Remember, this is a preliminary report. I don't want to do a lot of speculating here. But that would be one of the questions I would have. When entering the traffic pattern a jump plane should enter at pattern altitude. That is why I usually entered the pattern on the base leg. It allowed for a wide pattern to look for traffic also in the pattern. The other question is why was the Cessna climbing on the traffic pattern side of the airport? You know there is a Porter above you that is capable of rapid descents. You know that he will want the shortest distance from drop to pattern entry. Was this the standard practice to climb and descend on the same side of the airport? Someone was definitely out of position. If you run more than one aircraft at a time over an airport there should be designated climb and descent areas and there should be two radios on board each aircraft so that they can talk on a seperate company frequency to ensure seperation. There are a lot of questions that will be answered as the accident is studied. Chris

Ok, don't know what you've read here but I know it's been said MANY times. DON'T jump with sinus congestion! Don't jump with a cold. Don't jump hung-over. Don't jump while medicated. Because......THIS is exactly what can happen. Flight physiology is very important and can not be ignored. You can be permanently injured from these things. Skydiving after scuba diving can give you the bends. My girlfriend has had sinusitis for the past two weeks. She actually started to feel good at one point but chose to ride the plane up and down once to make sure before jumping. She felt some pain on the way down and decided to not try jumping. We need to take this seriously and we need to watch out for our friends. Please, if someone feels a cold or doesn't sound right then we as their friends need to make it easy for them to sit down. We need to say "hey, you don't want to jump with a cold and here's why." Hope you get better. Get to your doctor. Chris

Ummm....I was 14 in 1984.