Does anyone know where one could buy a fabric jump door for a Cessna 182? As well, if anyone here has used the 182 as a jump plane how much tach time did you normally expect per load & was your normal fuel burn per load with the normal o470? I'm expecting about sea level to 10,500'. Any first hand experience would be greatly appreciated.

You should PM "lowrider"...He is flying a King Air and a 182 at Norcal Skydiving now...He has about 15,000 jumps as well

Also: http://www.diverdriver.com/

AKT

You don't want a fabric jump door. I've never even seen one of those except like 20 years ago on a U206. Just have a normal swing-up jump door made and if you get real creative you can have the peg locking system with the handle that runs down the leading edge and comes out by the vent.

About half hour turns if you aren't wasting time and are kind to the cylinders on the way down with a fairly standard lapse rate.
Hotter - slower, winter- a couple of minutes faster. 27 to 35 minutes for the average.

About 7 to 8 gallons per load.

I believe joining USPA will get you the in on some of the approval paperwork on the door, step, and seatbelts.

If you haven't bought yet look for a '56 model. They are the first year model for 182's and are a bit lighter. They perform better for the same H.P. and have the higher gear which gives the floaters more room under the wing too.

A '56 with a carbourated 520 will go really nicely.

The earlier the model the lower the empty weight but an even lower Gross and you will need Wing-Xs to be legal. A new idea for the 182 door is to build a Lexan slide up door that is inside the cabin like a Otter. I have seen photos and it looks like it works. The FAA has issued a approval letter allowing the removal of the door for jumping but finding the paperwork for the flop up door can be difficult. Build the lexan door as a minor alteration, pull the outside door off for jumping, then you dont have to cut your original door. Flop up doors leak a lot of air and if you want to use it for any xcountry its like riding in a pickup with a broken window. Put a JPI or any good graphic engine gauge, Wing X, and you can do 4 to 10.5 and back .4s all day and 6 gals per load. Replace the engine mount to firewall isolators with the seaplane al fittings, reinforce the carb airbox, large oil cooler.

The lexan door will work in a Cessna. We had one on a 195 that was just fine. There is a little work to install the tracks but once it's in it works great.
I've always thought that going to the junk yard to find an old door, stripping it and installing it was fairly easy too though. I wouldn't cut the door that comes with the airplane.
One distinct advantage of the lexan door is that there isn't any edges under the wing when people are climbing out. Less chance of a pin flap snag and premature deployment.

I have a 1962 with larger gross. Still need wing x? With half tanks (32 gal) I still have a useful load of 1000 pounds... Plus I only weigh in at 170 lbs. That's 207 lbs per person average. Plus I would probably be flying with less that 32 gallons.

The larger oil cooler is good idea huh? Any place I should specifically look for these? Anything have an STC with it?

How much would a jpi and install cost me?

Is the 62 the first year of the wide body? You get the gross increase and have the 5th seat belt attach already from Cessna. They are heavy and do not climb as well as the narrow bodies. Large oil cooler is an option in the equipment list. My first 182 was a 63 I put the Sportsman on mine did those mods and used it for skydiving. You are right that you dont need the wing x gross increase but you will want some type of help to get 4 fatties to altitude. The horizontal is small, check your empty weight W/B with just you in it. I used to have to take a grap at the yoke tube and pull one more time to get enough flare.

Haha, yeah flaring that thing with one person in it is no fun. No matter what you do, it seems to always land pretty darn flat at normal approach speeds and flap settings. I have extended baggage to I out all of my tools, tie downs, jumper cables, Ect in the far back compartment. Helps but is still smoother and slower touchdown with weight in the rear seats and baggage.
Wha sort if help do you recommend for a the fatty elevator? If a larger oil cooler is a equipment list item I can just find one second hand and have an ia sign off on it similar to the 206 nose fork. This gonna help my climb or just prevent from over heating?

The large oil cooler is just an A&P sign off as a minor alteration. The approved paperwork is the equipment list from Cessna and is listed under Optional. The large cooler will control oil temp, keeping the engine cooler, allowing you to fly at best rate of climb speed instead of having to keep the nose down to keep it cool. The fwd cg problem, I tried my own VGs on the bottom of the horizontal, no help. Find someone with scales and get a block of lead and bolt it in the tail near the tiedown ring.