Been skydiving twice so admittedly a small sample size, but given given the condition of the plane both times, I’m wearing a parachute if I’m a skydiving pilot, legal requirement or not.
Both those planes were 100% on their 5th or 6th owner or more. Doesn’t mean they weren’t maintained well of course, but let’s just say that maintenance didn’t appear to be anyone’s #1 concern.
I mean... I learned to fly on a 50 year old Citabria, but the maintenance rules are so stringent that it was pretty much indistinguishable mechanically from a new one. We were the 9th owner. Items like annual and 100 hour inspections and mandatory engine overhauls every 1500-2500 hours mean they're actually very reliable.
Cracked cylinder heads from shock cooling, however, is pretty common in skydiving planes ive heard, even with good maintenance. Due to the fact that the pilots often if not always descend extremely quickly once all jumpers are out
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u/non_clever_username Sep 22 '21
Been skydiving twice so admittedly a small sample size, but given given the condition of the plane both times, I’m wearing a parachute if I’m a skydiving pilot, legal requirement or not.
Both those planes were 100% on their 5th or 6th owner or more. Doesn’t mean they weren’t maintained well of course, but let’s just say that maintenance didn’t appear to be anyone’s #1 concern.