🚀 go-pugleaf

>Apart from that, active DZ doesn't mean that airplanes are told to stay
>away.  It means they're expected to watch out for skydivers.  Likewise,
>skydivers are expected to watch out for planes, since the air above the
>DZ is NOT exclusively ours.  We're operating VFR -- see and avoid, remember?

Jumping at Elsinore, CA is like jumping in the middle of a VFR
corridor.  I've personally seen at least 5 planes up close at about
3000 ft.  The pretty lake and the freeway (we know what VFR _really_
means, right?) are like magnets for all the ma and pop pilots.  We've
never had a bit of problem with controlled flights though.

Who among us really thinks that the spotter can see all planes that
are flying toward the drop done, at any altitude, coming from any
direction?  Couple that with the fact that a dangerous airplane is
probably between 2 and 5 miles away during jump run.
You're fooling yourself if you think that a 1 minute jump run
absolutely cleared the surrounding 5 miles of airspace, and got the
plane over the perfect spot.

What would our pilot friends think if they realized that we STOP
looking for traffic once we leave the plane?  That's like a pilot
closing his eyes for a minute!  I don't know about you guys, but
during a serious 8-way team jump, I'm not looking for traffic.

Hey, we all know that shit happens.  We can minimize the risks but
never eliminate them.  Just something to think about.
---
 . SPEED 1.3g #1056 . Only skydivers know why the birds sing.
                                               
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