Meet our Featured Jump Pilot - Mia with Skydive Jurien Bay

Meet our Featured Jump Pilot Mia, a Caravan pilot with Skydive Jurien Bay. A drop zone on the beautiful Turquoise Coast of Western Australia. Mia is a pilot and skydiver and is passionate about both!

Age: 27

From: Victoria, Australia

Total Time: 900 hours

Company: Skydive Jurien Bay

Location: Jurien Bay, Western Australia

Years Flying Skydivers: 3

What do you like most about flying skydivers?

I show up to work every day and get to fly an awesome aircraft and hang out with a bunch of amazing and inspirational people. I can hardly call what I do a job. I really love the variables that my day brings me – which keeps me on my toes. The Caravan is such a versatile and reliable aircraft and is an absolute joy to fly. I particularly enjoy the responsibility of being able to haul up to 17 passengers up to FL150! I couldn’t possibly pick only one thing that I like most about flying skydivers in the Caravan – I love every aspect of what I do!

What are your career goals?

Currently I am very happy flying the Caravan at Skydive Jurien Bay. In the future I hope to open my own skydiving business with my partner. In addition to flying, business management is another passion of mine, and I’m keen to put my management degree to good use.  If that falls through, I’m still hoping NASA needs  a Caravan pilots to go to space ;)  

What is your advice for younger pilots?

I've learned that the road to making your flying dreams come true isn’t always easy! My advice for younger pilots is to persevere and take any opportunity that is offered to them.  Also, it is easy to get too focused on achieving the end result or landing that dream job in the airlines. Enjoy the journey and remember to have fun while making your flying dreams come true :D

Feel free to visit the Skydive Jurien Bay site skydivejurienbay.com

*Repost* As a Jump Pilot you should always be watching your Skydivers exit!

This is a cool shot of my buddy "voodoo" and a tandem passenger exiting our C206 Jump Aircraft at Skydive Taft a few years ago.  You can see me in the background watching the exit and is something you as a Skydive Pilot should always be doing.

It is very important to make sure that none of the skydivers lines or handles get snagged on a seat belt, a door frame or anything else.  Also, insure that they have indeed unbuckled their seat belt.  I have personally never seen it, but I have heard of skydivers forgetting to unbuckle their seat belt and then attempting to jump, resulting in them dangling from the side of the aircraft.

As you can imagine that type of situation could cause major problems for them and you as the pilot.  I always have a hook knife handy as well, in case I need to cut their seat belt off. I encourage you to do the same. I personally like the Gerber "Crisis Hook Knife". It is available on Amazon and eBay. Go buy one, you might save a life with it one day!

My fellow Jump Pilots, please remember to review often, fly safe so that you can continue to have fun!

- SkyDiverDriver.com