How do you keep track of where the skydivers are, they are heading for the same airfield are they not?

First of all there has been a case of an in flight strike of a jumper under canopy being hit by the aircraft he got out of. It took his legs off roughly at the knees and he bled out on the remaining descent under canopy and died shortly thereafter. That was in 2006 if I remember correctly. He was a videoman having opened up a little higher than normal after filming a first jumper doing a tandem.
Avoiding the jumpers is usually fairly easy simply due to the nature of where they need to be to make the airport having no power. This has been made a bit more complicated in recent years with the advent of winged suit jumpers covering a lot more horizontal distance in a lot longer freefall time. That said the usual is this;
Final jumprun is made into the wind with the first groups getting out somewhere over the top of the DZ, varying a little for exact upper wind speed, and trailing out as far as two miles to the upwind side of the airport depending again on wind speed, the type of jump they are making, and the altitude they will open their parachutes at. So if one just eases over straight ahead after the last group exits and makes a simple left turn after another mile or so then take that line perpendicular to the jumprun wide on the airport you are now on a high left 45 for the downwind coming out of about 8k in a turbine. This puts the whole traffic pattern in front of you, easily viewed out the windshield due to the descent pitch angle, so you can look for traffic on the downwind/base/final. It also puts the jumprun line on your left at about a 45 angle so you can just begin to count the canopies as the groups begin to open and just follow the opening canopies right up the line until you see the last group open. As long as no one has "tracked" off perpendicular to the jumprun line a super distance in the direction of the downwind this will put the jump plane a safe distance from all canopies and allows for the pilot to see other traffic in the pattern from above before he enters it. Viewing the canopies opening and watching them also allows the pilot to see if the "spot" might need to be fine tuned from load to load and in the event a jumper might not make the DZ the truck can be called over the radio to go get them.
All of the tight spiraling over the top is fun and all but in my opinion simply flying a wide, left, descending pattern into the flow and altitude of the traffic pattern at about the downwind to base turn is the best for all.

RockHopper wrote:There are bold pilots.
There are old pilots.
There are very few old bold pilots.
Almost every bold pilot I've known (including some very good friends) are dead!
Its not a matter of if, just when it will happen when you live on the edge.
Flame me if you wish, but its just a reality of life.

Shit, I know for a fact that it's way more dangerous to be a little obese than it is to fly "on the edge" like this.... When ya get to be an old pilot, most of your friends have died of strokes and heart attacks.

Yep . Jump pilots are stupid and crazy. Does not matter if your bold .We are all going to die.Might as well race some jumpers to the ground.It's pretty fun.

Was it said anywhere what this guy's net descent was in that video?

A number of years ago I bummed some right seat time in a twin otter. Once the plane was empty it was flat pitch and point down. You literally hung from your seat belts and the ear pressure was immense. After 2-3 of those I generally had a splitting headache.

It was damn fun.

An angle from the ground the aircraft is a Dornier 28. Pretty impressive

Lucas wrote:An angle from the ground the aircraft is a Dornier 28. Pretty impressive

That's one badass looking taildragger!

Finally got it Thanks

Looks like the Alaska takeoff proves that the landing did not have to be so aggressive.
It is fun... I admit. But adds an element of risk. I often did pretty high speed downwinds into the harbor in Alaska on floats. Sharp turn to final, but much higher than these guys are doing.
I suppose being older has made me less tolerant. Just becoming a curmudgeon....
I will shut up and let the bold pilots have the glory, the big cajones and the big divit in the dirt.

Now this is a decent. You'll notice the jumpers are lining up to get back in. Apparently it was a little too chilly and changed their minds.

SE6601KF wrote:Finally got it Thanks

Hey way to go stirring up the pot like that!

Lucas wrote:An angle from the ground the aircraft is a Dornier 28. Pretty impressive

Is that an old Ford Trimotor sitting in the foreground when the plane touches down?

wow now that is some kick ass flying!

Junkers JU-52 in the foreground.

That porter with the people getting back in is our old airplane. Sold it to skydive Arizona.Think they sold it to a dz in Italy and that's where it lives today.Wish it was still mine.(kinda)