Sometimes pilots do dumb things.

Yesterday I saw the stupidest thing so far in the short time that I've been
flying. I rent out of a VERY
busy uncontrolled field. On most weekends there are a couple of students in
the pattern, banners towers
flying around willy nilly, business jets on long finals, helicopters doing
their against the flow of traffic
thing, jump pilots entering the downwind from 3000msl and of course the
skydivers themselves landing in
a field just west of the runway. Exciting times.

So I call the FBO around 2:30 in the afternoon to see if there are any
planes for rent because it is the most
beautiful day, after a couple of weeks of low ceilings, thunderstorms, mist,
rain and blaaa weather. Back
side of a cold front with high pressure building across the entire area.
Sweet. I can get a Warrior at 6pm.
GREAT! Off I go, flying into the setting sun, with flight following, nice
greaser at a near by class D and
then back to home at 2300msl. Smooth air, great visibility, air traffic
controllers in a good mood, first
quarter moon rising over the ocean. MAN I LOVE FLYING!!!

Field in sight. Thanks for the flight following and have a great night.
AWOS 15004. Jump plane #1
pilot calls 3 minutes to jumpers away. Perfect. Should be entering on the
45 to downwind just as they
jump. Then I hear it. "Busyfield traffic. Twin Piper 10 miles out. Over
flying the field at 2000. West to
East." Say What? Maybe my radio is picking up a distant airport's unicom.
"Jumpers away". I enter the
downwind behind jump plane #2 diving into the pattern from 3000msl (TPA is
1000msl). Then again it
comes. "Busyfield traffic. Twin Piper five miles out. Over flying the
field at 2000". Jump plane #2 lands
just as I'm turning base. C152 departs. I turn final and again the call.
"Busyfield traffic. Twin Piper
over flying the field at 2000. Trying to avoid the parachutes". Sure
enough, as I'm on final here come
two chutes with the Piper flying right by them.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me. But directly over flying an active jump
zone a 2000 feet just seems
dumb.

Oh well. It was a beatuful day to fly.

lardsoup wrote:


I don't know. Maybe it's just me. But directly over flying an active jump
zone a 2000 feet just seems
dumb.

The moronic part is jumping into an airport. This is contrary to what
the FAA would recommend.

"Newps" wrote in message
...

The moronic part is jumping into an airport. This is contrary to what
the FAA would recommend.


Many jumps are made at active airports, probably most of them. It makes the
next jump all the easier.

Hi

Maybe the question should be....why would you fly any lower and closer to an
apparently pretty active airport than you needed to if you werent actually
intending to land there in the first place?


Bll "always parks at the far end of the parking lot to avoid "parking space
vultures" Fish

Oh, he landed. After avoiding the jumpers he circled back into the downwind
and landed.

"BllFs6" wrote in message
...
Hi

Maybe the question should be....why would you fly any lower and closer to
an
apparently pretty active airport than you needed to if you werent actually
intending to land there in the first place?


Bll "always parks at the far end of the parking lot to avoid "parking
space
vultures" Fish

At least the skydivers are easier to see under canopy! I was on my long XC
as a student and was flying near a DZ airport (knew not to go over). I was
at 6,500 MSL (about 5,600 AGL) and saw 3 canopies above me! GPS showed me
over 3 nm from the airport when I checked.
--
Chris Ehlbeck, PPASEL
"It's a license to learn and buy really expensive hamburgers."

"lardsoup" wrote in message
...
Oh, he landed. After avoiding the jumpers he circled back into the
downwind
and landed.

"BllFs6" wrote in message
...
Hi

Maybe the question should be....why would you fly any lower and closer
to
an
apparently pretty active airport than you needed to if you werent
actually
intending to land there in the first place?


Bll "always parks at the far end of the parking lot to avoid "parking
space
vultures" Fish

BllFs6 wrote:

Maybe the question should be....why would you fly any lower and closer to
an apparently pretty active airport than you needed to if you werent
actually intending to land there in the first place?

I didn't note at what altitude the OP stated the jumpers were being kicked
out of a perfectly good airplane. But my experience in this neighborhood
has jumpers falling through the usual local VFR altitudes.

That is, the Piper's altitude isn't especially relevant. Proximity to the
airport, though...but don't we like this sort of thing for the odd case
where the air conditioning up front fails?

- Andrew

In article
,
"lardsoup" wrote:


I don't know. Maybe it's just me. But directly over flying an active jump
zone a 2000 feet just seems
dumb.

The dropzone I fly at has been operating for 6 years now. We are noted
on the charts with a parachute symbol and we are published in the AF/D.
I talk myself hoarse on CTAF as well as working with Approach. Every
weekend at least one (and usually more) uncaring, uninformed or perhaps
just friggin' stupid pilot will fly right smack dab over the DZ (which
is a private airfield). What's really aggravating is it isn't transient
pilots, it's local guys.

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

"Dale" wrote in message news:me-

Every weekend at least one (and usually more) uncaring, uninformed or
perhaps
just friggin' stupid pilot will fly right smack dab over the DZ (which
is a private airfield). What's really aggravating is it isn't transient
pilots, it's local guys.

Given that it's marked as a jump zone AND it's a private airfield, that's
basically inexcusable. Flak guns, perhaps? :

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 13:22:54 -0700, "gatt"
wrote:


"Dale" wrote in message news:me-

Every weekend at least one (and usually more) uncaring, uninformed or
perhaps
just friggin' stupid pilot will fly right smack dab over the DZ (which
is a private airfield). What's really aggravating is it isn't transient
pilots, it's local guys.

Given that it's marked as a jump zone AND it's a private airfield, that's
basically inexcusable. Flak guns, perhaps? :

I give drop zones a wide berth unless headed for that airport, BUT
being marked private (The circle with the P) pretty much indicates
it's a seldom used field as far as most of the pilot population is
concerned. I can find quite a few in the lower peninsula of Michigan
and that impression would describe every one. OTOH the pilot is
supposed to know (get a briefing) prior to departure. That P doesn't
give the field any special status expect it's not for public use.

Couple weeks back I took a VFR trip. Direct was through a drop zone
about 60 miles from here. When I was within about 8 miles of the
field I made a half circle around it. I head a student doing T&Gs at
the airport. Gave him a call and he was surprised I didn't go straight
through as the DZ is only used on week ends and not always then.

If it was a couple or several planes in formation they would most
likely have been listening on 122.75, rather than the nearest app
frequency where I'd expect the drop plane to make their announcement.
Most of those fields marked P have no unicom or CTAF frequency listed.

IF the filed is marked P AND the drop zone is not active on a regular
basis locals will soon forget and transients are more likely to notice
than the locals.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com