RPC Logo  

Return to Home Page

Raeford Parachute Center, Raeford North Carolina

Raeford Parachute Center School was started in 1968 with no building facilities, a dirt strip runway and a Cessna 182 aircraft.  With over 41 years of history and experience our goal is to introduce the sport of skydiving to those interested in a "taste" of freefall to training the experienced jumper into becoming a skydiving competitor through our coaching programs. 

RPC School owners are Tony Thacker & Dr. Kate Griesser. Tony Thacker functions as our school manager.  Tony has over 29 years of experience as a skydiver, pilot, gear store owner, drop zone owner, competitor and organizer.   Tony has over 7500 skydives and over 2000 hours of flying skydivers at Raeford.  In 2002 & 2003 Tony acted as the Carolina Skydiving League (CaSL) Director.  Tony was also the United States Parachute Association Mid-Atlantic Director from 2002 to 2006.  If you can't find Tony at the drop zone he is probably on the golf course.

But, if you don't see Tony then look for Kate! Dr. Kate Griesser has more than 15 years of experience as a skydiver, organizer, AFF Instructor & Evaluator, Static Line Instructor, gear store owner, Safety & Training Officer and drop zone owner. Kate has over 2700 skydives.  Not only does Kate work at the school, but she is also a practicing Doctor of Physical Therapy. Kate has her Bachelor's of Science in Physical Therapy, Master’s in Business Administration and Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Both Tony & Kate have considered Raeford their home all their skydiving years.  In 2001, Tony & Kate had the opportunity of purchasing the school and have enjoyed it ever since!   RPC School has state of the art equipment for our tandem passengers, AFF & Static Line students and rental rigs for the experienced jumpers.  In addition to Tony & Kate you will have the opportunity of meeting some of the over 40 USPA qualified staff when you come out to Raeford.

Raeford Parachute Center is a group member of the United States Parachute Association (USPA).  As such, RPC has pledged to follow the USPA's Basic Safety Requirements. USPA currently boasts a membership of more than 34,000.  These members, and other first-time jump students, make approximately 3,400,000 jumps per year.  The Basic Safety Requirements (BSRs) have been established as the cornerstone of the self-policing principle upon which skydiving is based. They represent the industry standard generally agreed upon as necessary for an adequate level of safety. Research can be conducted to develop and document new methods and procedures within the BSRs and, when necessary, under waivers to the BSRs, to establish a justifiable basis to modify these standards.  You can find out more about USPA at www.uspa.org

Raeford Parachute Center (RPC)  has also been a member of the Better Business Bureau since 2001. The BBB mission is to promote and foster the highest ethical relationship between businesses and the public through voluntary self-regulation, consumer and business education, and service excellence. This means RPC supports the Bureau's services to the public and meets the membership standards. RPC also participates in the Membership Identification Program with the Better Business Bureau. Based on BBB files, RPC has a satisfactory record with the Bureau. The Bureau has processed no customer complaints on RPC in its three-year reporting period.  Check out www.bbb.org for more details.

Services on site: