TMPattersonJr

I have been around the Drop Zones (yes plural) in Palatka for around 23 years now. Considering I am only 26 this is a good majority of my life. I was there when Skydive Palatka was started. I helped chop up bits of the taxiway that the foundation of the building sits on. The drop zone that started as a table under the trees with a couple of folding chairs has come a long way since then. The staff are a good group of people to work with. I am one of the packers for the Drop Zone as well as helping to hot fuel the Aircraft so we can keep it flying. I made my first Tandem during the 2005 Hog Flop boogie with Art the new owner and had a blast. I continued on to do AFF with Art, Keith and John. Reciently graduating I have done a couple 2 ways with various people around the Drop Zone. There is always someone to get advice about anything you could want to learn about skydiving. The airport is about 10 mins. from any fast food you could want. There's a few nice sit down places to eat nearby as well. We have plenty of place to set up a trailor or pitch a tent for the weekend. Or if you want to spend a little money there are a couple of nice hotels also within about 10 mins. drive. The large landing area is tucked in the corner of the airport, but we also have an alternate landing area towards the middle of the airport for the more turbulant days with winds out of the north. We usually have someone organizing RW loads, and always have a few Free Flyers and bird "people" that are always willing to jump with whoever they can. We normally don't slow down much over the "off" season normally because we have the same jumpers here to support us throughout the year. We have two 182's year round, and hopefully the caravan we have here this winter will become part of the full time fleet. The Hog Flops are a blast every year, and lots of fun skydives are made every weekend!!!