Jumpers   

that  jumped

                  at

Labertouche

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

L

M

N

O

P

Q R

S

T U V

W

X Y Z

Visiting North Queensland jumper:  Doug first jumped at Labertouche February 13th 1966.                     3/1/72

Visiting Jumper: A Sydney and later Queensland jumper who came to visit the Centre whenever she could.

Was mostly a style and accuracy competitor who represented Australia at the: 

3rd World Championships in Relative Work in Chateauroux, France 1979,

15th World Parachuting Championships in Kazanlak, Bulgaria 1980,

20th World Parachuting Championships, Bled, Yugoslavia 1990.   

and was an FAI Judge at two other World Championships.

Loved life and lived it to the full.   Loved fast cars, water sports and spent most of her weekends instructing student parachutists.

After breaking up with her second husband, she contracted a wasting disease and succumbed to it after a short illness.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on May 27th 1967.

First jumped at Labertouche as a static line student on the 26th of August 1971.

First jumped at Labertouche on ????   Having commenced jumping in South Australia, came to Victoria and was a regular jumper at the Centre for some years.

Was a member of the team "Aces High" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championship 10-Man Star Event. (1975/76)

Represented Australia at the 4th World Championship of Relative Work Parachuting at Zephyr Hills, Florida USA in 1981 as a member of the Bronze Medallist Australian 8-Way Team, "Prometheus".

Visiting Jumper:   Tony first jumped at Labertouche on December 21st 1975 as a member of the team "Metrognome" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championships 10-Man Star Event (1975/76).

Visiting Jumper:   JJ first jumped at Labertouche on December 21st 1975 as a member of the team "Metrognome" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championships 10-Man Star Event (1975/76).

A promising young jumper was taken from us in a freefall collision with another jumper at Meredith, Victoria on the 13th July 1985.

Visiting jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on the 24th of August 1965 from 6,800ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Clayton jumped at the Centre as a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "La Cosa Nostra" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships (73/74)  29/12/75

Visiting Jumper:  Colin first jumped at Labertouche on December 31st 1975 from 11,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Ken first jumped at Labertouche on July 12th 1981 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Indonesian Team Member:   Djanaka first jumped at Labertouche on December 30th in the 14th Australian Parachute Championships, Accuracy Event.

Visiting Judge and APT Fund raiser:  Anne did her parachuting with the Victorian Parachute Club.   Her husband Jack also was a VPC member but he did a lot of jumping at Labertouche in the early 80s.

Anne was involved in the organisation of Australian Parachute Team fund raising events at the Centre.    

She was Secretary of the Australian Parachute Federation for some years in its formative stages.    Working part time in the office when it was on Claude's property in Doveton, then from her home in Springvale and for some time when the office was on the Moorabbin Airfield. 

Anne died of natural causes in 19??

A member of the Victorian Parachute Club, Jack's first jump at Labertouche was in May 1966.   He jumped at the Centre regularly for two years.  

Jack had a malfunction on his Dominator parachute at Pakenham and did not carry out an emergency procedure, the canopy opened at about 300ft of its own accord.   This incident made him as well known as his wife, who was the first paid secretary of the Australian Parachute Federation.

Jack spent the last years of his life in an up-market aged facility in Dandenong where he was regularly visited by Ray Williams and occasionally by Claude Gillard.   He passed away in 2004.

Visiting Jumper:   Warwick first jumped at Labertouche on Melbourne Cup Day, the 2nd of November, 1982 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Peter first jumped at Labertouche in the 1973/74 Australian Championships and again at the 1975/76 Australian Championships. 

He was a member of "Sunshine Flyers" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event.

Visiting Jumper: Made two jumps at Labertouche on the 31st of July 1966.   Was a member of the APF Executive and one of the pioneer jumpers in New South Wales. 

Was a hard core jumper who carried five packed parachutes in the boot of his car to make sure that he did not miss a jump from having to repack.

Resigned from the APF in December 1965 and formed the Commercial Parachutists' Association.   

He published a book "Ripcord" on parachuting in 19??.   

Visiting Sydney jumper:   Louis first jumped at Labertouche on the 28th of November 1971 at the  Victorian Championships and again at the 1973/74 National Championship.  

Louis jumped as a member of the NSW Team at the 1st Australian Championships at Pakenham in 1960.   He was a key figure in the early development of the Australian Parachute Federation and he was Treasurer 1963/64 but his employment took him overseas to England for a number of years.

On his return he took up where he had left off and was APF Vice President for 1970/71.   He was particularly active in raising funds for Australian Parachute Teams.   His position as Secretary of Gilbey's Australia opened many doors as did his relationship with Henk Rutgers, a prominent Sydney lawyer.

Louis was Head of Delegation for the Australian Team at the 8th World Championships in Leipzig, East Germany and Team Leader at the 1st World Championships of Relative Work at Warendorf, West Germany in 1975.   

Always keen to stay fit, Louis ran daily and after one of his regular morning runs, had a heart attack and died in the shower.                                       

                                                                                                 More

Visiting jumper:   Mick first jumped at Labertouche on March 3rd 1982 from 8,500ft.

Peter made his first jump at Labertouche on the 8th of April 1969. 

Having to travel from Geelong to Labertouche to jump, in January 1972 together with Paul Ludowyk and Geoff Thomas they opened a parachute club in Geelong with the dropzone at Portarlington, later moving to Meredith.

The club became Meredith Skydivers and prospered for many years before closing down in 2000.

He was a member of "Marmalade Duck" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event.

Peter passed away in 2005.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on July 9th 1967

Russell first jumped at Labertouche on November 27th 1966.   His parachuting development paralleled that of his close friend Tony Hillman.  he became one of Hillman's Heroes.

He jumped regularly and became an Instructor at the centre until his trade took him off to distant dropzones and he departed for North Queensland.

He borrowed Claude's copy of Captain Cook's logs, if you see him ask him to send it back.

Dave's first jump was made at Labertouche on March 14th 1976.

A regular jumper at the Centre, he enjoyed taking on difficult ventures; like jumping with Fred Gungle into the Longwarry Pub on Saturday nights.

Visiting Pakenham Jumper:  Mike first jumped at Labertouche on October 5th 1975 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:   Lestor first jumped at Labertouche on January 20th 1979 from 8,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:   Robyn's first jump was at Labertouche on October 24th 1981.

Ursula made her first jump at Labertouche on the 18th of April 1981 and jumped at the Centre over the next two years.

Visiting Jumper:   Herb first jumped at Labertouche on November 6th 1977 from 9,000ft.

He was a member of "Four Man Team" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event.

He was a member of "Sunshine Flyers" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event.

Visiting Jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on February 8th 1970 and again in January 1974.

Julian was one of the Hungarian parachutists who arrived in Australia after the anti communist Hungarian uprising in 195?

The now photo was taken at the 2004 National Championships.

Julian was diagnosed suffering from cancer and he passed away in hospital on 26th April 2004.

Sandra Kane

Sandy's first jump was made at Labertouche on March 14th 1976.

She was a regular jumper at the Centre for many years.

Sandy represented Australia at the: 

4th World Championships in Relative Work at Zephyrhills, Florida USA 1981 and the;

Chinese Friendship Meet in Anyang, China 1982.

Visiting Indonesian Team Member:   First jumped in Australia on December 28th 1975 in the 14th Australian Parachute Championships, Accuracy Event.

Visiting jumper:   Mary-Rose first jumped at Labertouche in December 1975 as a member of the team "Metrognome" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championships 10-Man Star Event (1975/76).

Visiting Jumper:  Terry first jumped at Labertouche on march 13th 1977 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:  An Adelaide television cameraman, Bernie first jumped at Labertouche on the 27th of December 1970.

He later moved to Sydney, won accolades for his news camera work and became the 7 Network's North American Producer based in New York.

Bernie Spent several years after that as News Editor at Prime Television in Tamworth and Canberra.

He is now the ABC Chief of Staff in Sydney and spends his leisure time on a surf ski or hanging around old military aircraft in Temora.

In the 70's Bernie and Steve Swan, took over the running of Australian Skydiver Magazine from Trevor Burns and ran it for some years.

These two guys put in a huge dedicated voluntary effort producing the only real communication that was available over the period that they printed the magazine.  They deserve a place in any hall of fame we produce in the future.

At left, Bernie in the 70's and nowadays.

The first record we have of Leo jumping at the Centre is on a static line descent on the 7th of October 1973, he was also jumping at the centre in 1975.

First jumped at Labertouche as an advanced student on the 1st of April 1973.   He qualified for APF Parachutists Certificate A800 on August 1st 1973.

Colin's first jump was at Labertouche on the 7th of October 1973 and he was issued with APF Parachutists Certificates A861 on January 1st 1974 and B714 on April 1st 1974.

He competed in two Australian Championships in 4-Way Sequential Events.   

Colin retired from skydiving in the late 70's, married in 1980 and lives in Mount Eliza with his wife Sue and daughter Anna. His son Nicholas is at Melbourne University.

Jimmie's first two jumps were made at Labertouche on the 6th of November 1966 and he was issued with APF Parachutists Certificates A383 on January 1st 1967, B285 on March 15th 1967, C230 on May 9th 1967 and D145 on January 1st 1968.   

Richard's first jump was at Labertouche on November 4th 1979. He qualified for his Certificate "A" in March 1980.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on December 14th 1974 from 8,000ft

Visiting jumper:  15/06/1974 8,550 ft

Visiting Jumper:   John first jumped at Labertouche on December 13th 1975 from 8,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Steve first jumped at Labertouche on December 23rd 1973.   He was a member of the Gold Medal winning team "Ramblers Raiders" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championship 10-Man Star Event. (1975/76)

Visiting Jumper: Bill Kenny was Chief Instructor of Commando Skydivers based at Pakenham.    His first jump at Labertouche was on the 24th October 1965.  His jumping at the Centre was mostly at boogies, competitions, and courtesy visits.

He jumped at the Centre as a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "The Valley Rats" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships (73/74)

Billy was a committed competition jumper and probably one of the best known Victorian jumpers.   He won the gold medal in the World Masters Freefall Style Event in 198?

He had a rapport with the media that did not always work to his advantage.   Bill took sick leave from his job to jump in the Australian Championships in Rockingham, Western Australia.   His photograph appeared on the front page of a Melbourne newspaper reaching for the disc on landing.   He got a telegram from the boss; "Congratulations on your success in the competition, don't bother reporting to work upon your return".

He was Chief Instructor of Commando Skydivers for many years and a member of Australian Sport Coaching.

Bill made many jumps from the DC-3 at Corowa and on one of these he broke his leg and suffered an embolism.   Although he recovered from it enough to gain his drivers license back, it finally caught up with him and he died on the ??

A true Australian Skydiving Identity.                            

Visiting Pakenham Jumper:  Tommy made his 2nd and 3rd jumps at Labertouche supervised by his father, Billy.

Most older jumpers can remember seeing Tommy on dropzones with his dad.    He was able to carry out emergency procedures while he was still a toddler.

Tommy jumped regularly on relative work loads at the Centre during 1980/81.

He joined the navy but carried on his fathers love of sport parachuting.   He has more than 1,000 jumps and lives in Western Australia.

Visiting jumper:   Helen first jumped at Labertouche on March 3rd 1982.

An active member of Southern Cross Skydivers, Andrew first jumped at Labertouche on the 7th of February 1971 from VH-AVV and he last jumped at the Centre on the 17th of February 1980 from VH-AGF nine years later.

He was a tireless worker for both Southern Cross Skydivers and the APF.

One of skydiving's gentlemen, he has returned to work in banking and lives in Sydney with his wife and son.

Visiting Jumper:   Joanne first jumped at Labertouche on March 9th 1980 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Geelong Jumper:  Half Bar first jumped at Labertouche on December 23rd 1973  and was a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "La Cosa Nostra" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships 1974.  He also jumped in the 1975/76 Australian Championships.

He was a member of "Marmalade Duck" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event.

Brian is a keen pistol shooter and was Australian Champion six times in two events, was winner of the US National Championships and a World Championship.

He won the Australian IPSC (move through town shooting the baddies and not the goodies) three years in succession.

One of parachuting's gentlemen.

Tony's first jump was at Labertouche on December 8th 1979, he qualified for his Certificate "A" in February 1980.

Visiting Jumper: Col came to compete in the Labertouche Cup in 1968 and later that year to jump the Pilatus Porter that was available every third weekend while the Porter was back in Australia from the Australian Antarctic Expedition.

Col represented Australia at 7th World Parachuting Championships, Leutkirch, Germany 1964, the 8th World Championships, Leipzig, East Germany 1966 and the 9th World Championships in Graz, Austria 1968.

At the 9th World Parachuting Championships hosted in, Austria, Colin tied for first place in Individual Accuracy but lost the jump-off,  so winning the silver medal.  Australia's first WPC medal.

The APF's premier award, the title Master of Sport Parachuting was created to honour Colin's achievement.   To put it in perspective, Colin was a weekend jumper from a country where parachuting was a young sport competing against jumpers who spent years of their lives as full time competition jumpers.  it was a remarkable achievement.

Col now lives on the Sunshine Coast, a place that attracts many older jumpers as a place of retirement.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on March 12th 1982. Jumped at the Centre occasionally for some time.

Visiting Melbourne Parachute Centre jumper.  First jumped at Labertouche in June 1981.     After marriage, gave up jumping and became a pilot.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on January 2nd 1976.

Visiting Northern Territory Jumper:   Max first jumped at Labertouche on May 2nd 1981 in the 1st POPS Downunder Accuracy Meet.    Max played a leading role in the early development of Rel Week, the very popular Northern Territory annual Boogie.

Mike's first jump was at Labertouche on May 1st 1976.  He qualified for his "A" Certificate in May 1977.

Vicki made her first jump with Melbourne University Parachute Club at Labertouche on the 4th of April 1976 and jumped regularly at the Centre for some time, almost reaching A licence.

A lovely girl with an infectious smile, it was always a joy to be in her company.

Vicki married Melbourne sculptor Geoff Bartlett and had two children.  Esther Care, another MUPC member, took the photo at left.

Visiting jumper:  Leigh first jumped at Labertouche on January 13th 1974.

Victor Kleinschuster U

Visiting Pakenham Jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche in 1975.   He jumped regularly at the Centre through out 1975 and 1976.

He was a member of "4 Man Team" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event.

Vic was an expert mechanic and worked exclusively on Mercedes and Jaguar cars.

He later changed his name to Victor Klein to save having to spell it every time he gave anyone his name.

He became an Australian Champion Aerobatics Pilot and was killed when the aircraft he was flying collided with another aircraft over Port Phillip Bay.

Bob first jumped at Labertouche on the 27th of February 1971.

Visiting Jumper:  Steve first jumped at Labertouche on March 12th 1977 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Pakenham Jumper:   Peter's first jump was with the Victorian Parachute Club at Pakenham on the 2nd of November 1975, he first jumped at Labertouche as an advanced student on May 30th 1976.

He was a member of "Rapid Transit" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event 1978/79.

Peter was a core member of "Rapid Transit", winning Bronze medals in the 4-Way Event of the 3rd World Parachuting Championships in Relative Work, Chateauroux, France  1979.  

Gold in the 1979 and 1980 Australian Championships, Silver in the 1981 Australian Championships and Bronze in the 1978 Australian Championships.   He was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.

Retired from jumping in 1986 to complete his education, marry Susan and raise a family.   Commenced jumping again with Commando Skydivers in 1999 and took and interest in instructing and administration.   He is currently a Board Member and Treasurer of Commando Skydivers.

He is an active instructor with ratings in AFF, Tandem and Static Line and is writing his thesis for the Senior Instructor Rating.

Visiting Jumper:  Bill first jumped at Labertouche on May 25th 1975 from 7,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on November 6th 1977 from 9,000ft.

Was a member of "Bunch of Amateurs" in the ?? Australian Parachute Championships 4-Way Relative Work Event.

He represented Australia at the 3rd World Championships in Relative Work, Chatreauroux, France 1979, the 4th World Championships in Relative Work, Zephyrhills, Florida 1981 (Bronze Medals) and the 7th World Championships in Relative Work, Foz Du Iguacu, Brazil 1987.

Visiting Jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on February 22nd 1981 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:   Jim first jumped at Labertouche on January 18th 1981 from 8,500ft.

Jim was heavily involved in the spread of the Accelerated Free Fall training method throughout Australia and was a competitor at many Australian Championships.

Visiting Jumper:   Steve first jumped at Labertouche on March 14th 1970.

Paul was one of the original group of experienced Hungarian jumpers who came to Labertouche when it opened in 1965.   

Visiting Jumper:  Reijo first jumped at Labertouche on December 26th 1972 in the 1972/73 Nationals

Visiting jumper:   Udo first jumped at Labertouche on March 7th 1982 from 8,500ft.

Visiting American jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on September 28th 1968.

Visiting jumper:  Mike first jumped at Labertouche on December 22nd 1975 and was a member of the team "Thrukbawn" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championships 10-Man Star Event (1975/76).

Visiting Jumper:  Jean-Claude first jumped at Labertouche on March 4th 1978.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

L

M

N

O

P

Q R

S

T U V

W

X Y Z

Back to Top

Home     Synopsis     Drop Zone     Aircraft      Pilots     Equipment     Jumpers      Students

Staff      Activities     Gatehouse     Display Team     Southern Cross     Eagle Skydivers    

Photo Galleries     Links     Guestbook     Contact Us