voorheesh wrote:Flying jumpers - - - - - - --
All jumpers wear seatbelts even if they sit on the floor. I have seen "gang seatbelts" that secure as many as 3 jumpers. Think about it. If a jump plane comes to a sudden stop before the occupants are ready to jump, they need to be restrained.
The "jump club" we flew for never "required" the jumpers to be restrained. I can see a good point in having the restraints in place but at that time didn't give it much thought, but there may have been a down side to that too. Too many bodies restrained and in the need for an emergency exit, some could become entangled and all die in the wreck.
" "(voorheesh also wrote) Some jump pilots of small single engine planes wear parachutes although I do not think it is required. The reason is that a jumper could inadvertantly hit a flight control surface and cause control failure. " "
If I remember right -
- it was the Association that the Club was affiliated with that had a requirement that the pilot wear an emergency chute, not the FAA. An un-commanded chute opening while in the jumper was still in the cabin would cause horrific structural damage to the plane and consequently an urgent need for the pilot to reach the ground safely by some other means! Another possibility is - with one of the jumpers "out" on the wheel or step, the canopy accidentally opens and blows above the horizontal or wraps around the fuselage and the jumper falls below - presents another reason to insist the pilot wear a chute. This last scenario actually happened to one of our pilots and it provided the impetus for us to learn what to do if we had to "jump". This particular pilot caught the billowing of the chute in his peripheral vision and immediately rolled hard right and both the jumper and his chute went below the horizontal. There were three of us flying for this club, and we all took instruction from the Jump-Master, and each did five jumps. - three with static lines and two short free falls from 5000' agl. It was a neat experience but I much prefer flying than jumping out of a perfectly good airplane!