VH-DMS - The Blue Goose

Without a turbocharger, the Cessna 207 is not a very successful  jumpship.   The body is much longer and wider than the Cessna 206 but the engine used is only slightly more powerful.   It has a bigger load factor and considerably more drag.   When fully loaded, the aircraft needs the turbocharger to maintain its climb rate above 5,000 feet. 

Because the IO-540? Continental engine obtains its extra cylinder capacity by removing more area from the same cylinder casting when honing the cylinders, the cylinder walls are thinner than those of the IO-520? engine used in the 206, this also creates a greater possibility of developing cylinder cracks from pilot mismanagement of cylinder head temperatures.    Fortunately VH-DMS had a turbo charger.

With the seats removed, the number of jumpers that could be carried in an aircraft under government regulation was restricted by the aircraft's all-up weight limitation and the number of seat restraints available in the aircraft.   DMS was fitted with eight passemger safety restraints and insured for use with eight passengers.   This made it legal to carry eight jumpers provided the all-up weight limit of the aircraft was not exceeded.  So it was necessary to monitor the fuel level and jumpers' weight before every take-off.   On normal weekend operations the load seldom exceeded six or seven jumpers but during competition training camps 8-Way Formation Skydiving teams loaded the aircraft to capacity, some teams having to shuffle their alternate team members on and off jumps to stay within the aircraft's all-up weight limitation.