Skydive center fined for unsafe AC

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I've seen that Twin Otter! However, my favorite Lodi aircraft had to be a Beech 99 with almost no paint left, and no door. It's been like 8 years since I've been there so I have no idea if it's still there or not.
 
The FAA really needs to crack down on skydive operations. I'm not sure any of them operate in compliance with the FAR's.
 
fholbert said:
The FAA really needs to crack down on skydive operations. I'm not sure any of them operate in compliance with the FAR's.
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While this is true for A LOT of operators... it isn't for all of them. I work for a very well run place that takes care of MX, and there is zero pressure to break the regs.
 
z987k said:
Must be the most professional and largest dz in the world. CP at a dz, that still has me laughing.
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I happen to know the CP that Bumblebee is referring to, and yes, I think the CP title is appropriate. Perris has 6 twin-turbine aircraft (plus one single-turbine), 15+ pilots on staff and they drop over 140,000 skydivers/year. They run non-stop from sunrise to sunset (plus several nights per week) every day of the year. If someone is being paid to manage a fleet of aircraft and responsible for training and scheduling 15+ pilots, I certainly think you've earned the title, "Chief Pilot."
 
vheissu said:
While this is true for A LOT of operators... it isn't for all of them. I work for a very well run place that takes care of MX, and there is zero pressure to break the regs.
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If you're talking about Perris I do beg to differ. I hear those guys on the radio climbing and descending VFR though a solid deck. Of course they are dropping their yoyo's though a solid deck also.
 
periksmoen said:
I happen to know the CP that Bumblebee is referring to, and yes, I think the CP title is appropriate. Perris has 6 twin-turbine aircraft (plus one single-turbine), 15+ pilots on staff and they drop over 140,000 skydivers/year. They run non-stop from sunrise to sunset (plus several nights per week) every day of the year. If someone is being paid to manage a fleet of aircraft and responsible for training and scheduling 15+ pilots, I certainly think you've earned the title, "Chief Pilot."
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It's just so atypical for a dz to be any bit professional even if the have lots of aircraft.
 
fholbert said:
If you're talking about Perris I do beg to differ. I hear those guys on the radio climbing and descending VFR though a solid deck. Of course they are dropping their yoyo's though a solid deck also.
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So how does that work? "SoCal Approach, jump plane off of Perris climbing VFR through a solid deck to drop skydivers back through this solid deck."

Just because you hear a VFR aircraft on the radio and it's cloudy where you are, doesn't mean it's cloudy where they are. As for Perris, I certainly beg to differ. In a past life, I was a full-time skydiving instructor and I have worked at and traveled to many skydiving centers around the world. While there are some that are more lax about regulations, Perris is most certainly not one of them.

One of the reasons both Elsinore and Perris are so busy is that they set in an bowl that has some of the consistently best jumpable weather in the world. I can't count the number of days that Corona, Riverside, and everything to the north, in addition to everything west of the Ortegas is under 100% cloud cover while the Elsinore/Perris/Sun City/Hemet area, is 100% sunny. That's how you can have two of the largest skydiving centers in the world less than 10 miles apart from each other.

On the rare days that clouds do move through, the dropzone at Perris is shut down. I can say with 100% certainty that I have never seen any jumpers dropped through a solid layer there. I have been there when they had 9 twin-turbine aircraft in the air with nearly 200 skydivers on board and they landed all 9 of them without letting the jumpers get out due to weather moving in.

As for MX, Perris is one of the largest military parachutist training facilities in the world. They train not only our armed forces, but the armed forces of numerous other nations. As such, their aircraft, pilots, and instructors are held to standards that are unheard of anywhere else. If I had to guess, I'd say that the pilots there probably average 5000+ hours.

While there certainly are shady jump operators out there (just as there are shady flight schools, charter companies, banner tow operators, etc.), Perris ain't one of them.
 
z987k said:
It's just so atypical for a dz to be any bit professional even if the have lots of aircraft.
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It helps if your boss has flying experience himself. Mine is a former 121 guy that knows how things go. I have worked for a smaller dropzone where the boss was a pilot pusher and only saw dollar signs, so I know how that goes as well.
 
periksmoen said:
So how does that work? "SoCal Approach, jump plane off of Perris climbing VFR through a solid deck to drop skydivers back through this solid deck."

Just because you hear a VFR aircraft on the radio and it's cloudy where you are, doesn't mean it's cloudy where they are. As for Perris, I certainly beg to differ. In a past life, I was a full-time skydiving instructor and I have worked at and traveled to many skydiving centers around the world. While there are some that are more lax about regulations, Perris is most certainly not one of them.

One of the reasons both Elsinore and Perris are so busy is that they set in an bowl that has some of the consistently best jumpable weather in the world. I can't count the number of days that Corona, Riverside, and everything to the north, in addition to everything west of the Ortegas is under 100% cloud cover while the Elsinore/Perris/Sun City/Hemet area, is 100% sunny. That's how you can have two of the largest skydiving centers in the world less than 10 miles apart from each other.

On the rare days that clouds do move through, the dropzone at Perris is shut down. I can say with 100% certainty that I have never seen any jumpers dropped through a solid layer there. I have been there when they had 9 twin-turbine aircraft in the air with nearly 200 skydivers on board and they landed all 9 of them without letting the jumpers get out due to weather moving in.

As for MX, Perris is one of the largest military parachutist training facilities in the world. They train not only our armed forces, but the armed forces of numerous other nations. As such, their aircraft, pilots, and instructors are held to standards that are unheard of anywhere else. If I had to guess, I'd say that the pilots there probably average 5000+ hours.

While there certainly are shady jump operators out there (just as there are shady flight schools, charter companies, banner tow operators, etc.), Perris ain't one of them.
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This post is spot on. I fly out of Elsinore and it is a daily occurrence to have all of Southern California under a solid layer, but we will have a 5 mile hole over the DZ. We do military contracts year a round, and I can echo they don't just choose anyone. We don't mess around with MX, and there is no pilot pushing. Also, most of the Perris guys aren't full time jump pilots. A lot of them fly for Skywest, and corporate, so its not their first trip to the rodeo when it comes to the FARs.
 
periksmoen said:
Just because you hear a VFR aircraft on the radio and it's cloudy where you are, doesn't mean it's cloudy where they are.
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More than once I've been above the solid deck near Parris or Elsinore. ATC is vectoring me around the jump zone and hearing jumpers away on SoCal's frequency. It's pretty common.
 
fholbert said:
More than once I've been above the solid deck near Parris or Elsinore. ATC is vectoring me around the jump zone and hearing jumpers away on SoCal's frequency. It's pretty common.
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Being "near" is not "over" the DZ. Unless you have witnessed with your own eyes people and planes falling through an overcast your statements really have no legs to stand on.
 
BajtheJino said:
Being "near" is not "over" the DZ. Unless you have witnessed with your own eyes people and planes falling through an overcast your statements really have no legs to stand on.
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When SoCal is calling the jump traffic to me and I'm 5000 feet above tops I can see it's a solid desk.
 
inigo88 said:
Perris operates a DC-9. Enough said...
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A DC-9?

dc-9.jpg
 
Yeah, an old American Airlines DC-9. And just because you are above a "solid" layer somewhere near the DZ doesn't mean there isn't a hole over the DZ some miles away. Unless you fly right over the DZ and look straight down there really is no way for you to make that judgment.
 
vheissu said:
Yeah, an old American Airlines DC-9. And just because you are above a "solid" layer somewhere near the DZ doesn't mean there isn't a hole over the DZ some miles away. Unless you fly right over the DZ and look straight down there really is no way for you to make that judgment.
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Don't pee on my shoes and tell me it's raining.
 
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