Waiting for my next load of skydivers ...

Here I am deep in thought (lol) waiting for my next load of skydivers at Skydive Taft.  By the way, this is one of the only Cessna 182s that I've ever seen that has speed brakes.  I love 'em!  They helped me to get down from 13,000 feet a lot quicker, almost 3,000 feet per minute!  This airplane started its jump plane life with Larry Hill of Skydive Arizona in Eloy AZ.  I believe that it has since been sold to a drop zone in Northern California.

Stephen about to skydive, doing a Bat Hang from the wing of a Cessna 182!

A cool picture of one my skydivers Stephen doing what's called a "Bat Hang" from a Cessna 182!  In case you can not make it out, he is hanging upside down by hooking his feet to the leading edge of the right wing!

TIP: If you're a Jump Pilot and your skydivers want to do this, hopefully they will ask you and the owner (DZO) first, it is very important to bank the airplane slightly to the right.  That way when they drop, they fall AWAY from the airplane.  If you have the airplane banked even a little bit to the left it is possible that they might strike the right main landing gear and/or step. Also, most skydivers are not able to do this and take some time to get into position. Do not compromise your other skydivers and let your jump run get too long for one persons benefit.

Harmon Rocket at Golden West Airshow Marysville California

Here is a photo of the Harmon Rocket airplane that I spoke of in the prior post.  This is obviously from my view inside the airplane before I dropped the skydiver with the huge American flag! We were in a holding pattern together south of the airshow waiting for our call to fly over the airshow when this photo was taken. You can see that we're in a slight right bank. I was flying a C182 ... with dirty windows ... lol