SkymonkeyONE

My girlfriend and I were just in Palatka for the Hog Flop Boogie and had a blast. The people were really nice, the food was great, and we made some nice skydives. I really liked the nice, close, flat landing area. The place seemed like a nice "home" DZ with no weird political vibe. Can't wait to come back next year and defend my Hog Flop title!

Chuck Blue
D-12501
AFF/SL/TM/BM-I, S&TA, PRO

I just got back from five days in Perris (there for the swoop meet)and must say that I was pretty pleased with my experience.

The dropzone itself is very large but only has one grass landing area, so you better be landing there unless you want to trash your gear. When I was there the flightline consisted of three Twin Otters, all of which kept pretty busy the whole time the weather cooperated. This place gets very windy during the late morning-mid afternoon timeframe, so it pays to get up early and jump your heart out, then take a break and resume later. This is not to say that the aircraft ever stop flying, it's just that if you are a swoop purist like myself, then you are not going to like hooking it into the 20 knot wind. Anyway, why sweat it when they have that GREAT pool and restaurant to hang out in? The Bombshelter kicks ass! It's a very nice bar connected to probably the best DZ restaurant I have ever been in...Seriously! I am talking gourmet chow here. If you go, tell the "Food Nazis" I said hello.

If you are a person looking for specialized training, this place has it all: RW training, Freefly training, world-class canopy-flight training, skysurf, whatever. You could easily empty your wallet in a day if that is your bag. For you new guys looking to make a tandem or start your training, there are also two basic student-training schools. There are tons of packers running around for you LAZY people.

Gear sales and rigging needs are covered by the Square One store right on the premesis. Nice folks in there. A word of warning: reserve repacks are VERY expensive in California.

I stayed in the bunkhouse while I was there. Very nice, though there are no windows in the place. Clean bedding, cold airconditioning, good vibes. I could not bitch at all.

You swoopers will enjoy the TWO swoop ponds on the DZ: the old, rectangular one next to the grass landing area, and the new diamond-shaped one out in the desert. Unless you want to trash your gear, or are jumping the diamond pond because of a competition, I recommend swooping the one next to the grass. My wife had a shit fit when she saw my rigs after I got home. NASTY! They really need some grass out at the new pond, but doubt it will happen due to the great cost it takes just to keep the thing full. I was told that at least 300 gallons per day evaporate out of it.

All in all, I had a very nice time. Hopefully, I will be back in November for the next swoop meet.

Chuck Blue
D-12501
Skydive Raeford

My wife and I (Raeford people) went DZ-hopping up north last Fall and ended up at The Ranch one weekend. The end-of-season RSL meet going on, but we still found plenty of others to jump with. I must admit that I had never been to another DZ that came anywhere close to Raeford when it comes to facilities and goodwill. I would have never thought I would find another place I loved so much, but I did at The Ranch.
As we were not members, we paid a whopping $16 dollars to 14,000; this, one dollar more than members as I recall. We were in our RV, so I called ahead and talked to Guy, the manager. Even though there were no RV hookups available per-se, he told me where I could park and hookup my electricity, just accross the ditch from the great hall. Thanks, Guy!
The Otters were flying non-stop, right up to dark. I made a bunch of jumps then settled into the apres-skydiving scene at the bonfire. Unbelievable. It fascinated me that people were driving 60+ miles from NYC just to hang out and socialize for a few hours. The crowd there was first-rate; very friendly to us out-of-state jumpers if I do say so. Saturday night after jumping, Billy brough out about 20 free pizzas and at least two kegs of beer. Very nice. I was standing around the fire Saturday night and about had a fit when I saw all the wild skunks eating the pizza bones under the great hall. Crazy!
Of great interest to me were the cool camping platforms that are scattered throughout the woods. It seems that members are able to "claim" a platform and occupy it for the season with whatever tent or shack they wanted to erect. Interesting. They were raised up off the ground to keep the animals out, or so I was told.
The swoop pond there is fantastic, though you would be crazy to swoop it in other than one direction for fear of hitting the ledge on the leading edge. People were camped all around, set-up between it and the woods.

All in all, I give this place my highest rating and can't wait to return.

Not into the rat race of large, turbine DZ's? Don't want to drive all the way to Atlanta or Florida just to make a skydive? Buddy Blue, D-597, and his staff would love to show you a good time. Granted, this might be a slightly biased opinion as I am Buddy's son, but since I have lived in North Carolina (a Raeford jumper) for the past 16 years, I hardly count as a "local" anymore.
Buddy keeps two 182's in the air almost all of the time on this weekend and holiday-only DZ. It is VERY easy to find, just about one mile from I-85. The pace is very laid back; no computers or anything around here! The jumpers are a mix of old-school RW guys, a few freeflyers, and various others at different stages in their student or up-jumper training. A big deal here is doing two-cessna 8-ways at the end of the day. SL courses run every Saturday morning. New students get their knees in the breeze just after lunch. This is a Vector tandem DZ. There are two tandem rigs; both with EZ-384 mains (plus a 500 for the big boys). There is normally not a need to make reservations for tandems, but AFF needs to be arranged in advance.
My favorite things about the DZ are the swoop canals. These are natural drainage canals which parrallel the taxiway. One is shallow, maybe a foot deep; the other is a "Deland-esqe" ravine with about two and a half feet of water in the bottom. There is actually a third one which is perpendicular to the others that may be groomed by this Spring. A very popular pastime on the DZ, at least when I am around, is to make back-to-back-to-back loads and swoop. We pack right beside the canal and get picked up right on the taxiway by the pilot; NICE! Rates are a buck a grand, plus two bucks, so that means you can make a hook turn for five bucks (if you just MUST go all the way up to 3k). You can see photos of the deep canal at WWW.enclave.com in the photo section. A photo of me swooping the shallow one is listed on the www.skydiveopelika.com website.
Once again, this is not a big DZ. If you like the laid back, no pressure skydiving life, this is it. It is also a very safe place to learn how to skydive. There are lots of two-generation skydiving families on the DZ, and while you just may feel accepted at larger places, this place will make you feel like you are at home.

Chuck Blue
D-12501
Skydive Raeford