{"id":16426,"date":"2016-09-05T13:36:49","date_gmt":"2016-09-05T13:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/?p=16426"},"modified":"2023-10-28T12:50:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T19:50:41","slug":"40-years-los-angeles-skydive-perris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/blog\/40-years-los-angeles-skydive-perris\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Years of Skydiving: Skydive Perris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Diane Conatser Tells The Madcap Story Of the Little Dropzone That Could<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Diane Conatser and her husband Bennie bought a scrappy, dusty airfield in the then-teeny, agrarian town of Perris, California, skydiving was the furthest thing from their minds. For them, it was all about flying aircraft. On a good day, the whole family would take to the sky: He\u2019d lift off in the Fokker Triplane he\u2019d built for shows, and Diane and the kids \u2014 Pat and Melanie \u2014 would follow in the family\u2019s Cessna 170.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur passion was flying,\u201d Diane explains. \u201cHe flew for the airlines and for the air shows, and he was a licensed mechanic and a flight engineer, too. We wanted to settle somewhere close to where we were living in Huntington Beach and decided to look around for an airstrip to buy where we could build a house and fly in our backyard.\u201d She laughs. \u201cWe were only 35 at the time. We had no limits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DC3 | Melanie Conatser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Diane and her husband first saw the Perris airfield, it was distinctly unimpressive. There <\/span>was<\/span><\/i> a runway, but it was full of potholes. The rest of the property was a mess of weeds, punctuated by a rusting elephant graveyard of old junk, an abandoned trailer, a smattering of hot-air-balloon enthusiasts and a single active cropduster. \u201cWe used to tell our friends,\u201d Diane grins, \u201cThat they had to pull ten weeds before they could come into the house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe town of Perris was 5,000 people when we first got there,\u201d Diane adds. \u201cNow, it\u2019s around 30,000.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was to build homes around the runway, so they could fly in and taxi to their homes and park under their carport–a flying community. When the couple found out that the Perris airport was up for sale, they drove right out there and put it in escrow.  Their 15-year-old son, Pat, and 12-year-old daughter, Melanie, weren’t at all happy to leave their friends and the beach. It was 1976.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just wanted to fly,\u201d Diane remembers. \u201cPerris was shabby, but we just knew it could be great.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When they closed and started to move in, they started to notice what else had come with the property: a skydiver infestation.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t know, at first, that Perris had jumpers because their airplane was broken down,\u201d Diane says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t long before we started to encounter these hippie-looking people, and my husband told me–<\/span>Don\u2019t worry. We\u2019ll get rid of them right away.<\/span><\/i>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airstrip manager explained that they were parachute jumpers, but they hadn\u2019t had an airplane for a while. It clearly didn\u2019t stop them from coming around.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diane\u2019s husband, right away, made an arrangement with the old owner to bring in a gorgeous plane for them. \u201cAlmost immediately,\u201d Diane winces, \u201cA girl hit the tail with her parachute and took it out. I don\u2019t know if it ever got fixed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that plane out of commission, the couple–who clearly hadn\u2019t spent much time around skydivers, yet–bought a really beautiful Howard as a jump plane. \u201cIt was really pristine,\u201d Diane opines, \u201cWith a plush red velvet interior. Of course, with the parachutists, that didn\u2019t last very long.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At this point–just 1977, pretty much right after the purchase–Perris\u2019s skydiving community was already beginning to balloon. The Howard wasn\u2019t big enough to support the parachuting club, so the couple \u201cjust kept buying bigger airplanes\u201d: Beeches; DC3s; a Skyvan; a Twin Otter. They dug a swimming pool. They built bathrooms, but they couldn\u2019t afford a roof for them, so jumpers would fly overhead and catcall down to their friends inside. Diane and her daughter set up a little trailer where they sold hot dogs, barbecued beef and tuna sandwiches.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted the airport to look islandy,\u201d Diane giggles, \u201cSo I nailed palm fronds all around the top of it, like it was on some island out somewhere that was deserted, which was just about right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it turns out, the area was deserted for a good reason. When the couple bought the airport in 1976, there was no law requiring the disclosure of, shall we say, <\/span>key<\/span><\/i> information about the land. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have to disclose if you are in a floodplain,\u201d Diane explains, \u201cSo, when we went to see about building hangars and such, we found out that we couldn\u2019t build anything unless it was on stilts. In Southern California. Who would think?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOne time,\u201d she continues, \u201cThe Ramona Dam broke. And in the manifest, we were waist high in water. When we looked outside, we saw that the skydivers were going up and down the runway in a little boat. Even in all that, no one was mad in the flood. You make the best of it–skydivers have that attitude. If the drop zone is flooded, just get a little boat and keep smiling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know that\u2019s why we like it,\u201d she laughs, \u201cBecause there\u2019s no old grind or anything. It\u2019s always something different around here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jumpers–naturally–wanted a bar, so the intrepid dropzone owners pulled an old abandoned house trailer from behind the airport building, added a little portable on the end of it for a restaurant-bar.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was no money left after buying airplanes and fuel,\u201d Diane laughs, \u201cSo we mixed old paint, camouflaging the buildings to look like a bomb shelter. At that time people were concerned about being bombed by the Russians, so it made sense. We had good food, cold beer, a loud jukebox and a dirt floor. We kept it nice and warm with a borrowed orange grove heater. The jumpers called it \u2018Puff\u2019 because, like Puff the Magic Dragon, it would build up smoke and make a loud booming sound to clear itself out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, that little shack evolved into the Bomb Shelter–Perris\u2019s on-DZ bar and restaurant. Today, it\u2019s a big, cheerful space with pictures covering all the walls. Diane, as she is quick to note, framed and hung every single one of those pictures herself.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt all just snowballed,\u201d Diane smiles, \u201cAnd the jumpers, being so nice, gave us so many ideas. Oh my gosh, I was just so totally impressed by skydivers. And I still am.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those ideas–to start hosting boogies–is still very much a part of the Perris ethos. The burgeoning DZ started having boogies for all the major holidays: Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas. They started hosting courses and competitions. Teams started springing up all over the dropzone, and a couple of them won the gold at the world meet.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was always so much going on. We attracted some good people,\u201d she continues. \u201cPat Works, for instance. Such a visionary, Pat. He was teaching relative work and sky dancing. He actually started [the discipline of] free flying. We had a guy named Billy Reed who would train people out at some bar he went to in LA. He\u2019d train them at night and bring them up the next day to jump, so we would have 100 in the class on Saturday. Then a couple of other people, Jerry and Pat Swovelin also and Bob Buehrer, started the New Dimensions Flight School. It was the first organized school to teach the piloting of square parachutes. We were so proud of our teachers. Still are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all the magic, the little DZ was not without its rough moments. In 1985, after one DC3 was chopped in half by the propeller of a Cessna (whose pilot was under the influence) and another DC3 threw a propeller blade and burned up on the runway, Diane and Bennie had had enough.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe made \u2018The Party’s Over\u2019 t-shirts and moved back to the beach,\u201d Diane says. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon afterward, Perris got a second chance. The couple leased the drop zone to a group of nine successful skydivers: The Perris Valley Skydiving Society. Thanks to those men, Perris is still a DZ.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1989, there was a changing of the guard. Diane and her husband stepped aside–not entirely, but somewhat–to let their kids step up to the plate. Son Patrick Conatser and daughter Melanie Peschio–who has about 6,000 jumps and is a founding member of  the 8-way team Perris Passion 8–took over the dropzone\u2019s daily operation. They\u2019re still going strong. These days, Diane\u2019s grandson wields a wrench in the hangar after school, just like his dad before him.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Twin Otter | Skydive Perris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pat and Melanie have been partners in the dropzone for 27 years running. Pat is a \u201csuper mechanic,\u201d following closely in the footsteps his dad. (Both hold FAA Mechanic and Inspection Authorization Licensees.) Pat has an artistic streak, too; he painted striking sharks on both of Perris\u2019s DeHavilland DHC6 Twin Otters–one gray, one blue. Those shark airplanes are world-famous, now–recognized by skydivers all over the planet.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melanie\u2019s side of the partnership steers the direction of almost everything else. Along with the superb assistance of Manager Dan BC, she sets an upbeat, positive, professional tone in every aspect of the DZ. Melanie is learning to fly her DC3–and will be loading it up with happy jumpers on Perris\u2019s upcoming anniversary weekend. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bennie has certainly not flown off into the sunset, either: he is getting the DC9 ready to fly by Nationals at Perris 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"skydive-perris-indoor-skydiving\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/span>Perris has always been on the forefront of the American airsports scene, so it\u2019s no surprise that they were among the first in the world to enter the world of wind tunnels. In 2001, after traveling to Orlando to see the original, the couple decided to build one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe owner, Bill Kitchen, didn\u2019t want to sell it to us,\u201d Diane laughs. \u201cI had only wanted to build it down by the airport for skydiving training, but he insisted that they\u2019re meant for malls–that we wouldn\u2019t ever get enough business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill was partly right and partly wrong. Perris opened its tunnel in 2003, and has introduced countless numbers of skydivers and non-skydivers alike to the joys of bodyflight. These days, <\/span>every<\/span><\/i> drop zone would love to have a wind tunnel snuggled up to its hangar.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From talking to Diane, you really get the feeling that everything the extended Perris family does is about the pursuit of joy.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the \u201870s,\u201d Diane smiles, \u201cOur motto was \u2018The Fun, Friendly Drop Zone that Cares.\u2019 We didn\u2019t know anything back then, so we were an open canvas, but we wanted people to know what we were about–and that\u2019s exactly what we were about then, and still are now. We were so appreciative of the people coming out to Perris. Even to this day, everybody who comes feels like family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diane Conatser shares the madcap story of turning a scrappy, dusty airfield into one of the world’s largest, most renowned skydiving centers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":24848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-16426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skydiving","tag-skydiving-los-angeles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16426"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26238,"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16426\/revisions\/26238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skydiveperris.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}