Sunday Deep-dive! 🤿

I know skydiving season has been on for a couple months now. Doesn’t mean case studies on dropzones are out of the question, right? 😎

Today, we have Big Island Gravity Skydiving (website) in Hawaii. What’s interesting is that the ad for the job was a hit: lots of applicants. And the funny thing is, someone below the posted minimums actually got it. So, I’m sure Connor has a thing or two to share, how he made it happen.

For what it’s worth, he should be leaving mid-fall. If you plan on starting the job hunt around then, maybe taking over is a good idea?

Well, let’s dive in.

a bit about me

My name is Connor and I fly for Big Island Gravity Skydiving on the big island of Hawaii. I came into this job with about 450 hours and this was my first job as a commercial pilot. I started flying in late 2021, getting my private in February of 2022 and then buying a Cessna 150 in April of that year, time built in that thing and got a job as a ramp rat at my local airport as well. Found the job on facebook of january 2024, interviewed and accepted it before I even had my commercial, proceeded to fly almost 70 hours in a month to get my commercial and ended up flying out to the job two days later after my checkride. 😂

about the job

On any typical day, we can have anywhere from 2 customers to over 25. On days we fly (average maybe 12-15 days a month) we start at around 0600, to give us the biggest window in terms of wind. The airport I fly out of (PHUP) is notoriously windy and is known as one of the 3 windiest drop zones in the world, up there with Guam and Saipam. On a great day, when the Tandem Instructor and myself have a flow going, we can knock out 3 jumps an hour pretty easily; our record is 4 in one hour. Each load between wheels up and wheels down takes approximately 13 minutes.

Before the day starts, I have to wash down the plane, clean the windows, fuel the plane with 5 gallon jugs (no fuel on airport) and generally just make her ready for the day. The plane is a 1959 C182B. She’s been converted to jump ops, so just the pilot seat remains and has a top hinged door on the right side. She’s got big tires, wing extensions and a STOL kit so she gets up and going QUICK. Once we hit our jump altitude of around 9000 feet, I open the door, give the green light and they jump. Once they do that, power back to 15” and dive down. Besides the flying aspect, I manage the fueling, upkeep and maintenance of our aircraft (one pilot one plane operation here) so I plan with our owner as to when to take the plane to maintenance, what needs to get done etc. It’s important to be firm and to remember you’re ultimately PIC and responsible for everyone who gets in the plane, keep it maintained!!!

the Big Island experience

I’ve quickly come to realize this is quite probably the most fun professional pilot job I will have in my career purely because of how you get to fly the aircraft. You’re descending at rates you’d never normally see in flight training, cargo, surveying (…), you meet all sorts of people from every corner of the world, you get to wear a parachute, it goes on and on. It may sound boring doing the same thing over and over (on long days it certainly can get monotonous) but it’s genuinely one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done, not just flying. You get to take people up to do a bucket list item of theirs and you are making it possible.

EASILY, I can say I have two least favorite things; one being how I have to fuel with 5 gallon cans. It can get messy in the wind, to the point we shut down or don’t fly. We’re lucky to not have to deal with clouds too much, but there’s been times I haven’t flown in 2-3 weeks as the winds were too strong for us to safely operate. A really busy week can make up for it in terms of hours building, but it can get boring…

cons of being hawaii-based

There’s one jump operation on the whole island, and we’re located on the VERY north tip of the island, roughly an hour from Kona and two hours from Hilo. The area we’re in is very small and community oriented, life moves slow and once the sun sets basically everything closes. Even the gas stations stop pumping at 8:30pm, it’s insane. For groceries you really have to drive an hour to Kona with a cooler and stock up for a week or two as the grocery store in town is incredibly expensive. There’s not much of a night life at all, the closest bar is a 40 minute drive and they close at 9:00 on the latest night, everything else is in Kona or Hilo. It can get lonely here, most people stick to themselves and you end up having to figure out things to do alone here or with coworkers.

numbers

Currently I only have a per jump rate: $35 a load, so whether it’s two tandems in the plane or one its the same pay. I get paid 50 bucks every time I take the plane to maintenance, and 50 to go to Kona to get fuel in the truck. The best payday i’ve had so far was 66 jumps in 3 days which worked out to around 2300 bucks. If I could maintain that constantly it’d be fantastic. I rent a room from our TI here for $900 a month, not terrible considering the area (hawi/kapaau). I didn’t have any relocation help, per diem,… Here you learn to live frugally in case the wind makes it so we can’t fly. From the time I’ve arrived here in late february I’ve gained 120 hours, so it works out to be around 55-60 hours a month.

advice for potential applicants

Try and find 182 time any way possible!! Chances are, as a fresh jump pilot you won’t be in a caravan or twin otter, you’ll be flying a 182. Dropzone and insurance companies alike love to see you have some time in type when taking you onboard. also, if you are interested in being a jump pilot don’t be afraid of relocating. I relocated from the San Diego, to Hawaii in less than a month. I had never visited or been to hawaii, so it was an adventure along with a new job. Once you get on with a drop zone, don’t EVER give in to what the owner or T.I’s may want you to do. It’s crucial to maintain personal and legal minimums AT ALL TIMES when conducting jump ops. Chances are the TI’s are going to be more cavalier than you are and may be willing to accept more risk, that doesn’t mean you should or need to. If you don’t like something, call it then and there. You are PIC and have ultimate say as to a go or no go decision, all the way up until they leave your aircraft.

Biggest other piece of advice I could give is to just go into it with an optimistic outlook. Don’t look at it just as a, say 500-1000 or 1500-hour holdover. Take pride in it and enjoy it. I see it happen too often with other low time jobs or CFI’s where the end goal of the regionals or whatever it may be blinds them of everything in between. you have to get there one way or another, enjoy the time you’re building, treat this job like you would an airline job and do the best you can to ensure a safe and good time. You’ll never get to have a job like this again moving forward in your career, and from ex jump pilots I’ve talked to, I’ll end up missing it like crazy.

Yeah honestly, I miss home WAY more than I thought I would. I strived to get out of California, and now as i’ve spent longer in what I imagined would be paradise (don’t get me wrong it is) I’m quickly seeing that I took California for granted. 😂

I miss the fellas and the family, and funny enough in’n’out. Damn I miss in’n’out…

That’s it. Hope you liked it, as we’ll have a few more of these. I’m also still working on the database, it’s just that getting the information has been tricky. We’ll find a way. I’m back in the US, I’ll try calling the companies who do pick up.

We’re all in this together now! 🤪🫡

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