For the experience of a lifetime that is local to 30A – look no further than Skydive NW Florida. The 30A TV crew took a recent trip to see what it was all about. Ralph Gage concocted the whole idea and we got on board after some courage. Surprisingly, no one was that terrified, and most of us felt calm stepping out of the aircraft onto the ledge to GO for it. Above is the video highlights from Ralph, Paul, Redd and Peter’s jump. Freefall for about 30 seconds and the rest of the ride is a float down under canopy. Be sure to order the video and photos of your jump, to miss out on that would be a travesty.
We can’t say enough about David, our instructor, as well as Melanie and Jim, the owners. Everyone is so welcoming and knowledgeable, and our safety was number one at all times.
If we can do it, you can, so check out the video and share it, to tell your friends to go JUMP !!
Welcome, welcome, welcome! We are excited to be launching not just a new name, but a new logo and a new website! It’s all happening and we’re excited for this big step with our business.
Why Skydive North Florida?
In the last few years, we have been so focused on building our drop zone that we honestly didn’t give a ton of thought to our name. Skydive Live felt energetic and literally ‘alive’ but as we have learned through our growth that we needed a brand name that was more appropriate with our specific region so our future customers could more easily find us based on our region. With our long term plan for growth, we also figured it was now time to create a brand that resonated who we are, so we decided to create a new logo.
Our goal for creating the logo was based around the following:
1. Patriotism. As members of the US Army, we are proud to have served the greatest country in the world. We wanted the colors of the flag to be incorporated wtih our logo – hence the red, white and blue elements.
2. What We Do. We wanted to ensure that if someone saw our bumper sticker while waiting at a traffic light that they would know what we do even if they couldn’t read the company name, so of course we incorporated a skydiver into the image.
3. Location. We incorporated both the state shape and a star to indicate where we are located in Florida.
We went through many iterations with the logo until we came up with this one and we couldn’t be happier and more proud of the end result. We hope you like it as much as we do.
Our Reason for Being
We love skydiving. My husband Jim is a former US Army Golden Knight and I’m a pilot. Jim and I met at the Raeford Parachute Center and we’ve been together ever since (you can read our bios here). To say we love skydiving and the community that enjoys it is an understatement – it’s the reason we started the business in the face of a few obstacles getting it off the ground. We are passionate about our skydiving center and doing things the right way and feel strongly that experienced skydivers will always feel welcome here along with our student guests. Our aim is to please and not just introduce people to skydiving, but also to our family.
With that said, welcome to the all new Skydive North Florida!
Blue skies always,
Melanie Nipper,
Co-Owner
Skydive North Florida
James “Jim” Nipper
James Rice Nipper enlisted in the Army at 17 in 1975 and became a US Army Golden Knight in 1980, and stayed for 14 years. He was on both the Black and Gold demonstration teams then became a member of the Style and Accuracy competition team and would finish his GK career as the Team Seargent. Jim has numerous National and World skydiving titles. He retired from the Army in 1996 as a Seargent First Class. He is also a rigger, A&P/ IA mechanic, former commercial pilot and D-7693 license holder.
Melanie Nipper
Melanie Nipper became a pilot in 1986, was an instrument flight instructor, crop duster, and flew cargo before flying for Gene Paul Thacker at Raeford Parachute Center where she met Jim. Melanie got in the Army as a Warrant officer in 1993 and flew Blackhawks and King Airs. Four combat tours, active duty for 12 years and was in the National Guard and still serves in the Reserves with 22 years of service flying Blackhawks. Currently flies a Kingair overseas as a contractor.
