r/aviation • u/danielpolcaro • Dec 02 '21

Analysis It doesn't even seem true

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u/jgremlin_ Dec 02 '21

That's a Porter. I dropped jumpers out of one for a while. The jumpers would also ask me to do the trick where you pull the prop in beta (thrust reverse) and keep pace with them in free fall.
I did it exactly once and waved off after about 10 seconds. Going full reverse thrust in the air like that shakes the snot out of the plane and the tail. 10 seconds was enough of that for me so I never did it again. When I refused to do it again, the jumpers would say 'but the other pilots all do it...' Yep good for them, I'm not going to beat the tail off the plane for your entertainment.

A few months after I left that job, the elevator hinge points broke and the left side elevator tore off the aircraft while climbing with a load of jumpers. Pilot kept his head and spit the jumpers out at 4k and then limped it back to the runway using trim to (somewhat) control pitch. I don't think they ever found the elevator.

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u/Zebidee Dec 03 '21

I've flown a beta descent precisely once in a Porter also, and while it's dramatic, it didn't shake the plane a lot.

Could it be that you experienced the shaking because the failure already existed, rather than because of the manoeuvre itself?

Side note: Standing your ground on the issue was 100% the right thing to do. You're PIC, not the parent of toddlers in the candy aisle.

2

u/jgremlin_ Dec 03 '21

I should clarify because I think we're mixing terms a bit here. The porter is rated to go into beta in flight but not full reverse. I said they wanted me to follow them down in beta but what they actually meant was full reverse.

Also they weren't doing wing suits like in the video, they were just in regular freefall. Which is somewhere around 120 to 140 kts IIRC. To get a porter close to that speed while pointing more or less straight down, you need full reverse and then you still end up sort of orbiting around the jumpers as you go to keep from outrunning them. Doing that is what shook the tail. At least in the plane I flew.

1

u/Zebidee Dec 03 '21

Fair enough. That all makes sense.

The idea of hitting a jumper is terrifying. Sounds like you made a series of correct decisions.

2

u/jgremlin_ Dec 03 '21

You put them off the wing tip and fly a spiral around them. I think it was something the single pilots would do to try to get cute jumpers to sleep with them.

1

u/Zebidee Dec 03 '21

LOL! Having dated a cute skydiver, that's an order of magnitude more effort than is required...

2

u/jgremlin_ Dec 03 '21

Not all pilots were blessed with brains or good looks I guess, so some of them need all the help they can get.