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From: bunda@cs.utexas.edu (John Bunda)
Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Subject: Re: Student in tow (was Re: oops (urban folklore)
Message-ID: <1566@needmore.cs.utexas.edu>
Date: 20 Jun 91 18:10:25 GMT
References: <3529@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> <1563@needmore.cs.utexas.edu> <3535@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU>
Organization: U Texas Dept of Computer Sciences, Austin TX
Lines: 35

In article <3535@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> mspurgeo@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Mike Spurgeon) writes:

>  Our 182 flies quite well with 4 or 5
>outside and in the door.  Why would two on a s/l be any more difficult?

Well, as they say, your mileage may vary.  Seriously though,
sure, it *flies* fine, but have a glance at the VSI next time you've
got a 4-way on the step, especially with the power cut back to 12" or
less and maintaining 70-75mph (I do speak as an experienced jump pilot
here).  The airplane appears to be (and is) flying fine - it's just got 
the same descent rate as an open canopy - higher if you insist on
a really deep cut, like s/l jumpmasters often request to reduce the prop
blast for first-timers.

At 10,000 feet, your 4-way can spend a while lounging on the step
without noticing more than a few seconds taken off the top of the
skydive.  Video of an in-tow I've seen, like Wally Gubbins, was done
at high altitude.  However, most real static line jumps are from 3,000
AGL, leaving far less room to play with.  You surely want to get that
student under a canopy above 1000'.  As for the airplane, the jumpers
on the end of the static line plus the ailerons and rudder you need to
maintain wings level are going to make it a draggy, ponderous beast to
fly.  Even adding power, I have my doubts about getting the thing to
climb, though it would certainly help if there were no other jumpers
in the plane.

Having said all this, I admit I haven't tried the experiment with
a static line, I just read about it somewhere, either Skydiving or
Parachutist, or maybe a PIA document, I'm just relating what I
remember reading.  But, at the same time, I have little trouble 
believing it.

-John
-- 
John Bunda * bunda@cs.utexas.edu * {uunet,harvard}!cs.utexas.edu!bunda