Narrative:

I flew the sgs-232 for time-building reasons and encountered a great day for soaring. Thermals were not far in between; and I went from thermal to thermal gaining lift. At about 3500 ft AGL; I turned eastbound toward the end of runway 26; remaining about 1 mi south of the airfield. The sky above me was overcast; with breaks to the north; over the water. I remained on the border of the drop zone; in my opinion; well clear; as the overcast layer above prevented any skydivers from falling through. Unfortunately; this was not the case. As I turned in the thermal; I observed chutes opening around me. It was apparent that an aircraft made a drop load of skydivers into the clouds and were deploying their canopies around me. I do not know if they were jumping into known clouds; but they created a hazard to me. I immediately got the nose of the airplane down; lost about 1000 ft and cleared the area. Upon return; I received an angry phone call from the company; stating that I was carelessly in their drop zone. While I was operating unusually close to the zone; I felt that there was no danger because of the cloud cover above me; and that no legal parachutist in command; or the PIC; can allow such jumps to happen.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN SGS-232 GLIDER PILOT EXPERIENCED AN AIRBORNE CONFLICT WITH SKYDIVERS DESCENDING THROUGH A CLOUD LAYER. THE GLIDER PILOT REPORTED HE WAS NEAR BUT NOT INTO THE DROP ZONE.

Narrative: I FLEW THE SGS-232 FOR TIME-BUILDING REASONS AND ENCOUNTERED A GREAT DAY FOR SOARING. THERMALS WERE NOT FAR IN BTWN; AND I WENT FROM THERMAL TO THERMAL GAINING LIFT. AT ABOUT 3500 FT AGL; I TURNED EBOUND TOWARD THE END OF RWY 26; REMAINING ABOUT 1 MI S OF THE AIRFIELD. THE SKY ABOVE ME WAS OVCST; WITH BREAKS TO THE N; OVER THE WATER. I REMAINED ON THE BORDER OF THE DROP ZONE; IN MY OPINION; WELL CLR; AS THE OVCST LAYER ABOVE PREVENTED ANY SKYDIVERS FROM FALLING THROUGH. UNFORTUNATELY; THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. AS I TURNED IN THE THERMAL; I OBSERVED CHUTES OPENING AROUND ME. IT WAS APPARENT THAT AN ACFT MADE A DROP LOAD OF SKYDIVERS INTO THE CLOUDS AND WERE DEPLOYING THEIR CANOPIES AROUND ME. I DO NOT KNOW IF THEY WERE JUMPING INTO KNOWN CLOUDS; BUT THEY CREATED A HAZARD TO ME. I IMMEDIATELY GOT THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE DOWN; LOST ABOUT 1000 FT AND CLRED THE AREA. UPON RETURN; I RECEIVED AN ANGRY PHONE CALL FROM THE COMPANY; STATING THAT I WAS CARELESSLY IN THEIR DROP ZONE. WHILE I WAS OPERATING UNUSUALLY CLOSE TO THE ZONE; I FELT THAT THERE WAS NO DANGER BECAUSE OF THE CLOUD COVER ABOVE ME; AND THAT NO LEGAL PARACHUTIST IN COMMAND; OR THE PIC; CAN ALLOW SUCH JUMPS TO HAPPEN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.