S

SethInMI

I'm New Here
note: I don't have a ppl let alone an RV-8, so this is for entertainment purposes only ;)

The owner of West Tennessee skydiving has a Pitts Special that he will drop skydivers from. The skydiver holds a T-handle grip, the plane rolls inverted, and the now dangling skydiver can let go at his/her lesiure. Being a skydiver myself, I have wondered if you could do that with an RV-8.

What you need to do?
1. Be able to fly with the canopy off or a modified canopy that is missing the back half
2. Mount a T-handle to a bar in front of the rear seat (I think there is such a bar?)
3. Be able to coordinate with the rear pax standing on their seat and holding the T-Handle while you roll the plane over.

of course you could not charge for this service so it would be for fun.

Are any of steps 1-3 impossible due to Vans restrictions or just on how the RV-8 is constructed?

Youtube video of Pitts drop
 
I watched an RV-8 purposely fly with the slide canopy removed to participate in a flour bombing event at the Llano STOL competition circa 2015. The pilot would pull up and throw the flour bomb over his shoulder while pushing over. Before the event I saw the canopy sitting in the grass and thought the pilot had experienced a problem with his canopy blowing off. Until the event came up and I saw him taxiing by for take off.
 
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Somewhere there’s a video of guys that did it already from a side by side version. I think it was 3-4 years ago, created quite a stir and I believe the FAA got involved.
 
I watched a video of an RV-4 doing it. The canopy was fully removed and pilot was wearing full face helmet..no windscreen at all. It was somewhere in Europe if I recall, and it went without a hitch. I also saw the RV-6/7 with a slider that appeared to have the sliding portion removed. I'm not sure the FAA has any jurisdiction as long as the pilot wears a parachute also, but that's just in conversation with several skydiver friends that have jumped from anything they can scuttle a ride in. I for certain would not even slightly entertain doing it with my RV-4...just so many opportunities for a bad party foul.
 
fixnflyguy said:
I watched a video of an RV-4 doing it. The canopy was fully removed and pilot was wearing full face helmet..no windscreen at all. It was somewhere in Europe if I recall, and it went without a hitch. I also saw the RV-6/7 with a slider that appeared to have the sliding portion removed. I'm not sure the FAA has any jurisdiction as long as the pilot wears a parachute also, but that's just in conversation with several skydiver friends that have jumped from anything they can scuttle a ride in. I for certain would not even slightly entertain doing it with my RV-4...just so many opportunities for a bad party foul.
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I would worry mainly about doing a lazy half-roll and having the jumper float off and hit the tail. Unless I was very confident I could get the plane transitioned in such a way to make that impossible I wouldn't try it (I won't be trying it anyway or wouldn't try it in the future if and when I ever got an RV)
 
I have a lot of skydives, many in exotic aircraft including WWII bombers, a Super Connie, a 727 ala DB Cooper, and the inverted Pitts and a few bridges.

Dropping clear of the tail while inverted isn't an issue since the forward speed of the skydiver initially matches that of the drop plane.

Besides being prohibited, I don’t see a big attraction to jump from an RV. You can’t get many of your skydiving friends in the RV like you can in say a Casa!
 
upperdeck said:
I have a lot of skydives, many in exotic aircraft including WWII bombers, a Super Connie, a 727 ala DB Cooper, and the inverted Pitts and a few bridges.

Dropping clear of the tail while inverted isn't an issue since the forward speed of the skydiver initially matches that of the drop plane.

Besides being prohibited, I don’t see a big attraction to jump from an RV. You can’t get many of your skydiving friends in the RV like you can in say a Casa!
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I am a bit jealous. Never got to jump a jet, still hoping Perris gets their DC-9 running again. And a bomb bay drop would be great too. I agree jumping from an RV doesn't make a lot of sense, but if you could jump it like a Pitts, then you can look at it the same way, a specialty jump to put in a log book.

The hit-the-tail concern is only a thought for "zero-G", if the plane and passenger are on the same ballistic trajectory, then if the skydiver lets go he / she would only be subject to drag and so move backward.
 
SethInMI said:
The owner of West Tennessee skydiving has a Pitts Special that he will drop skydivers from. The skydiver holds a T-handle grip, the plane rolls inverted, and the now dangling skydiver can let go at his/her leisure.
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I've seen a photo of a topless skydiver hanging from (probably) the same T-bar, roughly 20 years ago. One of our 08A crew was doing the flying.
 
upperdeck said:
I have a lot of skydives, many in exotic aircraft including WWII bombers, a Super Connie, a 727 ala DB Cooper, and the inverted Pitts and a few bridges.

Besides being prohibited, I don’t see a big attraction to jump from an RV. You can’t get many of your skydiving friends in the RV like you can in say a Casa!
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I’ve never jumped, but I have tossed jumpers out of a B-17, a C-47 and a L18 Lodestar. And yeah, from the B-17 was the coolest with the Air Force Wings of Blue at a couple of airshows; stack six jumpers in the bomb bay, three on each side of the catwalk straddling the open bomb bay doors. When it’s time, they just retract their arms/legs and drop out of sight. “Meat bombs away!!”

But, dropping one from my RV-8, nah, I wouldn’t want to, legal or not.

And a topless drop from a Pitts? I dunno Dan, I don’t think we believe you. Will need to see photo evidence as proof… 😝
 
There was a YouTube video of a guy skydiving out of an RV-6 a few years ago. I believe that one turned out to have been done in a country other than the US.
 
My OpLims are older and don't' have any such prohibition.
That said, I wouldn't dream of trying it with an RV-8.
 
I've dropped civilians from a C-17 in MIA class B into halftime at a NFL game. Boy they had big jumbotrons. McDill's SOCOM bunch were retirees..

If dropping- you wear a chute, too.
 
I knew a guy who would use his Kolb motor-glider to drop a skydiver. The wing was covered in duct tape and according to him, the skydiver would climb out onto the wing. The jumper would lay on the wing facing forward and slide off when he was ready.

I currently fly an 1965 Alon A2 Aircoupe, It is not approved for any aerobatics. The canopy slides back and it is legal to fly with the canopy open At speeds less than 100 mph. It would be possible to fly to altitude, open the canopy and have your passenger climb out onto the wing and depart. There isn’t anything to hang onto. The airspeed could easily be as low as 50 mph. It could be done…. not that I’d be willing to try it,
 
There are ideas that are dumb, and others that are illegal, and still others that are BOTH.

Any guesses as to where the collective would classify this one?
 
rockyfatcat said:
I knew a guy who would use his Kolb motor-glider to drop a skydiver. The wing was covered in duct tape and according to him, the skydiver would climb out onto the wing. The jumper would lay on the wing facing forward and slide off when he was ready.
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YSM. I would discourage dropping a skydiver, or any object, from any pusher configured aircraft. I've seen a gas cap take out a Vari-Eze and can only imagine if googles, gloves or even the skydiver were to go through the prop.
 
jliltd said:
YSM. I would discourage dropping a skydiver, or any object, from any pusher configured aircraft. I've seen a gas cap take out a Vari-Eze and can only imagine if googles, gloves or even the skydiver were to go through the prop.
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The Kolb motor glider climbs to altitude and after killing the motor the engine/propeller are retracted into the fuselage.
 
upperdeck said:
I have a lot of skydives, many in exotic aircraft including WWII bombers, a Super Connie, a 727 ala DB Cooper, and the inverted Pitts and a few bridges.

Dropping clear of the tail while inverted isn't an issue since the forward speed of the skydiver initially matches that of the drop plane.

Besides being prohibited, I don’t see a big attraction to jump from an RV. You can’t get many of your skydiving friends in the RV like you can in say a Casa!
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I would not jump out of a perfectly good airplane, BUT, that damn Casa is soooo ugly, yes, I would jump out of that as soon as I could, with a bag over my head.
 
rockyfatcat said:
The Kolb motor glider climbs to altitude and after killing the motor the engine/propeller are retracted into the fuselage.
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But the Vari-Eze had just taken off full load and fuel and was 20 feet in the air on climbout when the gas cap went through the prop. It was at the Kansas City GIG fly-in during the mid 90's and the elderly couple in the Eze were fantastic folks. I tried to get to the fire asap but those who had experience with tragic accidents grabbed my arm and told me to stop as there wasn't any way they could have survived. They were right.
 
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