PLT IN CHEROKEE 6 ON A XCOUNTRY FLT IN THE VICINITY OF C13; A SKYDIVING AREA; ENCOUNTERS SEVERAL SKYDIVERS FALLING VERY CLOSE TO HIS POS AT 4500 FT.

Narrative

RETURNING HOME FROM OSHKOSH VFR ON AUG/XA/98; ACCOMPANIED BY MY FRIEND (ALSO A LICENSED PLT). HAD A FULL PREFLT BRIEFING FROM FSS. SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR NOTAMS ALONG RTE OF FLT. RECEIVED NONE REGARDING ACTIVE DROP ZONES/SKYDIVING ACTIVITY. LEVEL AT 4500 FT MSL; GOOD VFR CONDITIONS; CEILING GREATER THAN 12000 FT; VISIBILITY 8- 10 MI; SOME AFTERNOON HAZE. FROM PRIOR TRIPS THROUGH THE AREA AND REVIEW OF CURRENT CHART; WAS AWARE OF POSSIBILITY OF SKYDIVING ACTIVITY AT 0C2 AND C13. AS WE APCHED 0C2; I AWOKE MY FRIEND AND ASKED HER TO HELP SCAN FOR TFC. SAW TOWPLANE/GLIDER TAKING OFF AT 0C2; BUT NO SKYDIVING ACTIVITY OR TFC CONFLICTS. CONTINUED TO ACTIVELY SCAN FOR TFC AS WE APCHED C13. MONITORED APPROPRIATE CTR AND CTAF FREQS. HEARD NO RPTS OF SKYDIVING OR CALL OF 'JUMPERS AWAY' (FREQS WERE CONGESTED AND NOISY). APPROX XA25 LCL; I SAW THE FIRST (BRIGHT YELLOW) CHUTE BLOSSOM AT ABOUT OUR 10-11 O'CLOCK POS; JUST ABOVE OUR ALT (APPROX 5000 FT). I CALLED THE TFC TO MY FRIEND; IMMEDIATELY BEGAN SCANNING INTENTLY FOR OTHER SKYDIVERS (THEY'RE ALWAYS IN GROUPS!) AND THEIR JUMP PLANE. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY MY FRIEND SPOTTED 2 OTHER CANOPIES IN THE SAME AREA. I HAD ALREADY DISENGAGED THE AUTOPLT; BEGAN A R (WESTERLY) TURN AND DSCNT; SCANNING FOR TFC. I BELIEVE THE JUMPERS ALSO TOOK EVASIVE ACTION; APPEARED TO TURN TO THE E. A FEW SECONDS LATER; WE SPOTTED THE JUMP PLANE IN A DSNDING L TURN AHEAD AND ABOVE US. NO FURTHER CONFLICTS. AFTER CLRING THE AREA; RESUMED ORIGINAL COURSE AND COMPLETED FLT WITHOUT INCIDENT. THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE JUMPERS WAS MY FIRST IN MORE THAN 20 YRS OF FLYING. IT IS DIFFICULT TO ESTIMATE THE DISTANCES INVOLVED; NOT BEING USED TO SEEING JUMPERS 'UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL' INFLT. IT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE FRIGHTENING TO 2 EXPERIENCED PLTS ON BOARD -- WE COULD CLRLY IDENT INDIVIDUAL FEATURES OF THE JUMPERS AND TELL THEY WERE SINGLE SKYDIVERS; NOT TANDEM JUMPERS. HAVING ONCE TAKEN A BASIC JUMP COURSE AND MADE 1 JUMP MYSELF; I PROBABLY HAVE MORE THAN AVERAGE AWARENESS AND APPRECIATION OF THE HAZARDS AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS INVOLVED IN BOTH FLYING AND SKYDIVING. THIS INCIDENT SERVED AS A REMINDER THAT NOT ALL TFC CONFLICTS INVOLVE AIRPLANES; OR EVEN ACFT; AND THAT CONSTANT VIGILANCE IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY WHEN IN VFR CONDITIONS. I WAS THANKFUL FOR THE MAP MAKER'S DILIGENCE IN HIGHLIGHTING AREAS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST AND RISK ON THE SECTIONAL. THE CHART DID SERVE TO ALERT US TO BE PARTICULARLY ALERT IN THE AREA OF THE ENCOUNTER. IT CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE BEEN HELPFUL IF THE BRIEFER HAD PROVIDED ANY APPLICABLE NOTAMS REGARDING EXACT LOCATIONS AND TIMES OF PLANNED SKYDIVING ACTIVITY. I CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE PLANNED TO AVOID THE AREA ENTIRELY WITH SUCH INFO. ARE NOTAMS ON THIS SUBJECT AUTOMATICALLY PROVIDED TO A BRIEFER BY THE COMPUTER SYS WHEN A RTE OF FLT IS ENTERED? IF NOT; SUCH AN ADDITION WOULD IMPROVE SAFETY. I WILL CERTAINLY INTENSIFY MY EFFORTS TO 'SEE AND AVOID' WHEN VFR; AND WILL LIKELY PLAN TO GIVE EVEN 'INACTIVE' DROP ZONES A WIDE BERTH IN THE FUTURE! ALSO; WAS THE JUMP PLANE TALKING TO CTR? IF SO; WHY WERE WE NOT CALLED TO THEM AS TFC PRIOR TO THE JUMP? (SQUAWKING 1200/4500 FT ENCODED.)