AIRBORNE ANTICS SKY DIVERS RIDE CLOSER TO THE EDGE.

Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer

CALIFORNIA CITY - From playing catch with melons to grabbing the perfect photo to imprint on their Christmas cards, sky divers over the Antelope Valley are going to extremes.

That's why Skydive California City, which has been in business since 1975, has created Spaceball Days, when jumpers can use props after they step out of the plane.

``They play with anything they want up in the air. They're all extreme jumpers,'' said Antoinette Martinez of Skydive California City. ``We try to do it (Spaceball Days) pretty often cause they seem to enjoy it.''

When Mirajana Krainovic and her friend Bill Day wanted to celebrate her 2,000th and his 100th jump, they fell through the air on a rubber raft before deploying their parachutes.

Other sky divers have played catch with watermelons and pumpkins, ridden snowboards, and dumped rubber chickens into a bucket after jumping from the plane, Martinez said. In one instance, a veterinarian and his wife brought along an oversize stuffed animal and had a midair photograph taken for their Christmas cards.

For novice jumpers, Skydive California City offers tandem jumping (the jumper is strapped to an instructor) for $199 and accelerated free fall, in which a customer jumps with two instructors after seven hours of training, for $299. Included with the price is all equipment needed for the jump.

For customers who want to make a day of it, the company offers a barbecue area, swimming pool, fire pit and a pool table.

Military personnel are also a common sight as the company provides support for both the Navy and Edwards Air Force Base.

Skydive California City is generally open from dusk to dawn, but Martinez recommends making reservations to ensure they have adequate staffing. They are located at 5999 Curtiss Place. Jumpers have to be 18 or older and must weigh less than 225 pounds.

For more information call [phone] or visit their Web site at www.skydivecaliforniacity.com.

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Sky divers are, in raft, Mirajana Krainovic and Bill Day, and Jason Anderson, Robert Smith, Mike Allmandinger, Tim Bennicoff and Mirko Djordjevic.