Whenever I’m flying anywhere near a drop zone I always try to find out whether or not it’s active — either by talking to the local LARS station if they’re working or the airfield itself. In my experience Lakenheath for instance are very good about notifying anybody on their frequency about drops over Old Buckenham. Last time I was out that way you’d have had to be deaf (or NORDO) not to know about it.

Last time I flew past Sibson I gave them a call to double-check, and indeed they were dropping, so I gave them a wide berth to the west. It’s not as if diverting a couple of miles to either side of the DZ adds much if anything to your flight time.

Skybolt — by what distance do the parachutists like us to avoid the zones? Is a couple of miles enough?

Even if it does add an appreciable time to your journey so what? more time in your log book and no accident sounds good to me. Any way better to lose a minute in life than life in a minute