I wanted to create some sort of resource for new and old jump pilots to use for gathering information about flying skydivers. Whether you have 250 hours and wet ink on your commercial license or you have 10,000 hours and an ATP, I hope that you will find something useful on this site. Things I want to put on this website are SPECIFICS about flying different types of aircraft in jump operations, an example syllabus for training, and a detailed list of jump plane accidents broken down by year, type aircraft and causes. This site should always be a work in progress. I hope that with time more pilots and jumpers will participate in growing this site.
Regulations don’t change often; however, the interpretation of regulations seems to evolve over the years. Hopefully we will be able to provide timely information on any changes to part 61, 91, and 105 FAA regs involving skydiving operations.
Different types of aircraft are used across this nation and around the world for the sole purpose of getting skydivers to altitude. The most common aircraft is the Cessna 182. Unfortunately, it is also the most common aircraft involved in accidents because of its widespread use. One section will describe the most common practices and procedures for flying the 182. Another will describe some accidents. We all learn from our mistakes, but learning from someone else’s mistakes or incidents beats the heck out of learning those lessons the hard way. I will also include other incidents and accidents on other types of aircraft as information becomes available and is verified. Accidents and incidents are no fun to talk about. Not learning from the mistakes of others means that we may be doomed to repeat them. Don’t let this happen to you.
Spotting with GPS becomes more and more popular every year. But some pilots still don’t use its full potential. Here you will find tips on how to use GPS for spotting.
This site, as I said, will always be a work in progress. Enjoy. And feel free to comment.
Chris Schindler (contact)
D-19012
246-way Lead Pilot
300-way Left Wing Pilot
14,000+ total time
3,000+ flying skydivers
870+ jumps
Contributors
Chris Schindler
12,000 hours total time flying. 3,000 hours flying skydivers. Flew as lead pilot for the World Record 246-way 12 aircraft formation at Skydive Chicago, Ottawa, IL July 1998 and was responsible for spotting the loads. Flew as left wing pilot on Airspeed 300-Way at Eloy, AZ December, 2002. Graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1992 and is currently a captain on the CL-65 (CanadAir Regional Jet).
Chris is the creator and content manager of DiverDriver.com. Contact Chris
Christy West
50 hours flight time, occasional right seat ornament, several hours of freefall/5000+ skydives, Accelerated Freefall Jumpmaster (lapsed), Women’s World Record (118-way), multiple U.S. National Skydiving Championships medalist in 4-way, 8-way, 10-way, and 16-way, editor, web site designer.
Christy is the webmistress responsible for developing and managing DiverDriver.com.
John Kallend, BS, PhD
John received his bachelor’s degree (1967) and PhD (1971) from the University of Cambridge (England). His college was Trinity Hall. After post-doctoral work at Cambridge and UC Berkeley, he joined the IIT faculty in 1978. He is a skydiver in the Chicago, Ill., area and an affiliate at Los Alamos National Laboratory and at Argonne National Laboratory.
- Associate Dean, Armour College of Engineering, 1989 – 91
- Chair, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, 1991-95
- Dean, Undergraduate College, 1995 – 99
John developed the Freefall Drift Simulator on this site.
Philip Artweger
2 years of Ops, about 600TT and 1800 Flights roughly…. plus 17 years of operation at Pink Aviation.
Philip wrote the Skyvan article on this site.
George Merle
4,000+ hours total time mostly in F-18 and F-14 aircraft US Navy. Civilian ATP and CFII. 100+ hours in PAC 750XL.
Neal Alders
Neal Alders, chief pilot, Skydive Space Center, Titusville, Florida. Neal has about 10,000 hours total time, and holds an Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine land, with a type rating in the DeHavilland Dash 8 and has flown 3500 hours in skydiving operations. He also holds a Commercial Pilot certificate with ratings in Multi-Engine Sea, Single Engine Land, and has Private privileges in Gliders. He is a CFI in single and multi-engine aircraft. He specializes in training tail wheel, formation and aerobatics. Neal has flown jumpers in King Air’s, Twin Otters, CASA 212’s, Porters, PAC 750’s, Cessna’s and Stearman biplanes.
Chris Rosenfelt
Chris holds a Commercial Pilot Certificate with Multi-Engine and Instrument Ratings. He has logged about 3000 hours flying skydivers and ferrying Caravans all over the country. He is also the owner of CaravanPilot.com.
2 replies on “About DiverDriver.com”
Hello everyone. I am looking to put a lexan roll up door on my P206. Looking for resources or anyone that has done this. I have all the parts and ready to put the door on. I will be doing a field approval hopefully.
Probably best to ask this question in the Facebook group. http://www.facebook.com/groups/DiverDriverCom/