Jumpers   

that  jumped

                  at

Labertouche

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B

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D

E

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G

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Visiting Jumper:   Barry first jumped at Labertouche on December 28th 1968.

Visiting Jumper:   first jumped at Labertouche on March 25th 1973 from  7,000ft.

Visiting Sydney Jumper:  One of the principles of Sydney Skydivers, John first jumped at Labertouche on the 26th of December 1966.

John represented Australia at the: 

Adriatic Cup, Portoroz, Yugoslavia 1965, 

8th World Parachute Championships, Leipzig, East Germany 1966, 

9th World Parachuting Championships, Graz, Austria 1968 and as 

Team Leader at the 12th World Parachuting Championships, Szolnok, Hungary 1974.

John founded Parachutes Australia and introduced advanced equipment for both experienced and student parachutists.

Visiting Jumper:  Barry was a member of the Victorian Parachute Club, he first jumped at Labertouche on the 14th August 1966.    He attended the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships as a fun jumper.

When Eagle Skydivers moved from Labertouche to Pakenham and sub-let the old Southern Cross Shed from Commando Skydivers, it was pleased to find that the southern end of the building had been recently refurbished with a pot-belly stove and seating arrangements, all done by Barry.

Ray first jumped at Labertouche on the 21st of December 1973 to practice for and compete in the 13th Australian Style and Accuracy Championships.  He competed in the 4-Way Event of the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships (73/74)

He was a member of the team "Thrukbawn" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championships 10-Man Star Event (1975/76).

He stayed on and became a Centre instructor.    He went back to North Queensland and later established his own parachute centre in Mackay.

Visiting Jumper:   Peter first jumped at Labertouche on March 11th 1968.                    5/69

Jumped at Labertouche from 8,000 ft on the 27th of March 1970.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on August 26th 1979 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Indonesian jumper:  Robbie jumped at the Centre in the 13th Australian Parachute Championships (73/74), was a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "La Cosa Nostra" and the 4-Way Team "Robbie's Team" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships 1974.

Was a prominent figure in the development of sport parachuting in Indonesia.

Visiting Jumper:   Zolt jumped at the Centre in the 13th Australian Parachute Championships (73/74)  

Visiting Jumper:    David first jumped at Labertouche on May 20th 1981 from 12,000ft.

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

He represented Australia at the 4th World Championships in Relative Work, Zephyrhills, Florida USA 1981 as a member of "Prometheus", winning the Bronze Medals in 8-Way Formation Skydiving.

Visiting Jumper:   Les first jumped at Labertouche on December 28th 1968.

Visiting Jumper:   Terry first jumped at Labertouche on December 7th 1969.

Visiting jumper:   Gerald first jumped at Labertouche on December 18th 1971.

Visiting New South Wales jumper:  Roy first jumped at Labertouche on December 22nd 1975.   He attended National competitions at the Centre and would jump at Labertouche whenever a drilling contract brought him into the area.

Roy was a competition jumper and represented Australia at the 15th World Championships in Kazanlak, Bulgaria in 1980.

His adventures while jumping at Labertouche were mainly in the Longwarry Pub and on the way to and from that establishment.

Roy was injured in a car accident in 198? and as a result has been relegated to a wheel chair since then.   In 19?? he jumped at ? and has made ? jumps since becoming a paraplegic.

He has attended a number of WPCs in his wheel chair, including Lucenc, Czechoslovakia 1982 and Vichy, France 1984.

In Lucenc, the Australian Team carried him up three flights of stairs in his wheel chair to the disco, where he took to the dance floor all night gyrating to the music balancing on two wheels.   While in Lucenc, he wangled a jump from a corporate turbo prop but someone in the hierarchy chickened out and stopped it.

NSW Parachute Council Manager for many years, a giant amongst Skygods in any language.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on January 20th 1974.

Visiting Newcastle Jumper:   Steve first jumped at Labertouche on December 24th 1966 and again on December 12th 1968.  On both occasions to contest a national championship.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on August 31st 1974 from 8,000ft.   Paid a later visit starting January 4th 1976.

Leslie-Anne's first jump was at Labertouche on the 25th October 1970.   Leslie was a "natural" jumper and she became a core jumper at the Centre.  She was an accomplished relative worker.   A no nonsense, happy go lucky jumper who took laughter with her wherever she went.

She went to the USA to follow the RW jump scene and became a manifest tart at Ellsinore, California.

Eventually she went back home to New Guinea to play her part in the family business.   Last contact with Leslie was on the New York airport .  She was on a buying trip for the business in New Guinea.  

Visiting Pakenham Jumper:  Steve first jumped at Labertouche on July 27th 1969.   He also jumped in the Gypsy Moths Meet  in December 1974 and in July 1975.

Hugh first jumped at Labertouche on the 27th December 1966.   He was three times New Zealand style and accuracy champion.    He came to Australia with his wife Ruth and worked and lived at Labertouche for some time.

Hugh was an excellent competition jumper and turned low 9 seconds clean continually.   Not so impressive today but great back then.

Hugh threw himself into Australian skydiving with a vengeance and was busy transferring his NZ qualifications to Australian ratings when something went wrong with the marriage and he flew back to New Zealand.

He became a recluse and we have had no news of him since.

Ruth arrived in Australia from New Zealand with her husband Hugh.   After Hugh went back to New Zealand, Ruth stayed on and earned her Jumpmaster Rating.

The APF had an office at the rear of Royal Victorian Aero Club and Ruth took on the position of APF Office Manager there.  

After moving to Corowa, she married again and became a glider pilot.   Last heard of Ruth had earned her FAI Silver "C" Gliding Certificate.

Pam made her first jump at Labertouche on the 1st of May 1983.

Visiting Jumper:  Elf first jumped at Labertouche on July 25th 1976.

Danny's first jump was made at Labertouche on 13/11/1982.

Became an instructor and after moving to Pakenham with Eagle Skydivers became a Customs Officer and moved to the Northern Territory.

One of Colin Holt's core Instructors.

Ian first jumped at Labertouche on ??/??/??

He and Dave Waterson operated National Training Centre at Corowa for some time before Ian established The Parachute School at Puckapunyal.   He later moved that operation to Euroa and now operates also at Torquay, south of Geelong.

Ian has not operated within the APF System since ???  

Visiting Jumper:  Derek first jumped at Labertouche on December 20th 1973 for the 1973/74 Nationals.

Visiting Jumper:   Ziggy first jumped at Labertouche on October 12th 1967                                 1/11/69  9th Vic Champs

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

Visiting Jumper:  Jenny's first jump was made at Labertouche on April 15th 1978.

Visiting Jumper:  Dennis first jumped at Labertouche on December 26th 1972 for the 1972/73 Nationals.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on December 27th 1975.

Paul first jumped at Labertouche as student parachutist on March 1st 1972.                                            29/12/72   8500ft

Ken made his first jump with Independent Skydivers at Malalla, South Australia on the 27th August 1966.   His first jump at Labertouche was on 22nd of October 1966.

Posted to Victoria by the RAAF, he became a Jumpmaster with the Centre until he moved to Jakarta to work with the Australian Embassy there.   When he returned to Australia he was posted to Western Australia and settled there to raise his family.

On retiring from the RAAF and working in immigration related areas for a while, he and his wife Joy sold up and bought a motor-home and toured Australia for ? years.   During that time, he spent considerable time running the National Sport Aviation Centre while Claude and his wife Candy took an extended second honeymoon in Europe and Africa.

A glider pilot and recreational skydiver, he spends some of his time prospecting for gold.   An RAAF linguist, he speaks fluent Indonesian and is a walking encyclopaedia.

Ken and his wife Joy were very supportive of Claude in his efforts to build a National Sport Aviation Centre at Wangaratta in Northern Victoria and worked there as full time volunteers for six months.

Ken and Joy are living in Perth, Western Australia and have just returned from a tour of the Americas.  Ken still jumps occasionally. 

Visiting Pakenham Jumper:  Ken first jumped at Labertouche on April 10th 1977.                 26/8/79    22/9/79

Richard's first jump was at Labertouche on May 25th 1980 as a member of Monash University Skydivers.

Did his basic training with Roy Taylor and considerable instructor training under Colin Holt and achieved an Instructor "A" Rating at 21 years of age.

Was a hard core jumper and became a member of the instructional staff and the display team.

Victorian Area Safety Officer and APF National Safety Officer from 1993 to 1998 and was instrumental in the development of the APF Safety Officer Training Program.

As a member of the Phillips Display Team, he made a skydiving tour of the USA was introduced to the privileged jump set by Bill Ottley.   Jumping at private functions for the cream of American society.

He is a commercial pilot and jump pilot.  He flew many hours at the Centre.

A successful executive, Richard is presently based in Shanghai, China.

Visiting Jumper:  Alan first jumped at Labertouche on December 20th 1975 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Mac jumped at the Centre in the 13th Australian Parachute Championships (73/74) and competed in the 4-Way Event of the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships (73/74)

Tim's first jump was made at Labertouche on ??

Visiting Jumper:   John first jumped at Labertouche on August 1st 1967.

Visiting Jumper:  Tony first jumped at Labertouche on March 7th 1976 from 8,000ft.

Visiting jumper:  Alistair first jumped at Labertouche on November 25th 1971.                           30/12/72  10,500ft

Dianne married Frank McCulloch in 1977 and her first jump under her new surname was a 5-Way relative work load with her husband, David Parson, David Adams and Tony Curl on January 7th 1978.                               See also Dianne Grubb

Frank's first jump was with Monash University Skydivers at Labertouche on the 25th of November 1971 and he was issued with APF "A" Certificate No. 739 on the 1st of November 1972.

Frank was a member of the 4-Way Team "Super Bottle Gobble Birds" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships 1974.

Frank was a regular jumper at the Centre and married another Labertouche jumper, Dianne Grubb in 197?

Visiting jumper:   John first jumped at Labertouche on August 22nd 1976 from 8,500ft.

Visiting jumper:   Alan first jumped at Labertouche in the 14th Australian Parachute Championship (1975/76) and had the misfortune to break his leg during the competition.

Visiting Jumper:   Brent first jumped at Labertouche on November 6th 1977 from 8,500ft.

Ian's first jump was made at Labertouche on May 29th 1977.

Peefer, as he was better known in skydiving circles was one of the many Victorian police who jumped at Labertouche. 

He and Colin Smith started jumping together and progressed at about the same rate.   Later when Ian left the police force, he worked as a topography cameraman and jumped wherever his work took him.

He and Colin were seconded to manage security at the 2nd World Championships in Relative Work, which were held at Gatton Agricultural College, Queensland.

His work took him to Thailand and he married to a lovely Thai lady.

We have lost touch with him, so if you know where is, let him know that we would like to hear from him.

Visiting Jumper: David came to Labertouche with the Ramblers team to train for the 6th Australian Championships.   Bob Morrison was the team leader and Phil Whatmore was the other member of the team.   All of them won a place on the Australian Parachute Team and the photo on the left was taken at Graz, Austria where the team trained prior to the world meet in Bled, Yugoslavia.

He was the leader of the Gold Medal winning team "Ramblers Raiders" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championship 10-Man Star Event. (1975/76)

Always pushing the edge of the envelope, David took to canopy formation and he also played a major role in hosting the 1st World Championships in Canopy Formation Parachuting at Toogoolawah, Queensland.

He was a member of the Australian Canopy Formation team at the 2nd WPC in Vichy, France 1988 (Silver medals)

He openly declares that a lot of his motivation to build the Ramblers Dropzone at Toogoolawah came from his involvement at Labertouche and his discussions with Claude about his dream of owning the land and building a resort style dropzone.

His enthusiasm for our sport knows no bounds and his determination to get things done regardless of the obstacles has seen him realise most of his dreams.    Everybody who was at the Centre when he was there can remember good times in his company.

Recently joined the ranks of those designated Master of Sport Parachuting by the Australian Parachute Federation.

Visiting Jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on Boxing Day 1970.

Spent some time as a Federal Aviation Authority Officer.

Nowdays flies his brother David's brand new Cessna Caravan at Toogoolawah, Queensland.

Colin McEwan

Colin made his first jump at Labertouche on Sunday the 10th of October 1969.   Colin was a TV Commentator with Channel "O" and made three jumps that first day.

He returned the next weekend and made four more jumps before finding that the TV industry did not encourage its celebrities to participate in high risk sports.

Visiting Jumper:   Paul first jumped at Labertouche on May 15th 1976 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on the 1st of may 1982 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Billy was a Queensland jumper whose first jump at Labertouche was on the 4th February 1967.

Visiting Jumper:   Kim first jumped at Labertouche on December 21st 1975 from 7,000ft.

Visiting jumper:   Phil first jumped at Labertouche on the 23rd of December 1973.   He jumped in the 13th Australian Style and Accuracy Championships (73/74), was a member of the 10 Man Speed Star Team "Ramblers Raiders" and the 4-Way Team "Ramblers" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at that meet.

Visiting Jumper:  Paddy first jumped at Labertouche on December 20th 1975 from 3,000ft.

He represened Australia at the 3rd World Championships in Relative Work, Chatreauroux, France 1979 and the World Cup of Relative Work at Claresholme, Canada in 1983.

Paddy has two addictions, skydiving and camels, he was performing in a camel race at the Royal Melbourne Show at the same time that the Golden Eagles were also on the bill and it was obvious that he would have preferred to join the skydivers than perform in the camel race.

Last we heard he was still organising camel treks in the north of Australia

Visiting Jumper:   Ed jumped at the Centre in the 13th Australian Parachute Championships (73/74)

Visiting Jumper:   Harry first jumped at Labertouche on December 28th 1966.

Visiting Jumper: Geoff made his first jump at Labertouche on May 10th 1969.     He was a member of the "The Kelly Gang" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at Labertouche 1973/74.

Visiting Jumper:  Roger first jumped at Labertouche on December 26th 1972 for the 1972/73 Nationals.

Visiting Jumper:   Andrea first jumped at Labertouche on December 21st from 7,000ft

Margaret's first jump was at Labertouche on the 7th of May 1972 and she was issued APF "A" Certificate No. 725 on the 1st of October 1972.   30/12/75

Farrell's first jump was with Monash Skydivers at Labertouche on April 17th 1977.   He was a foundation member of Monash Skydivers.

A dedicated relative worker, Farrell represented Australia at the 6th World Championships in Relative Work, Mali Losnj, Yugoslavis (now Slovenia) 1985.

Farrell now lives in Brisbane

Visiting jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on December 24th 1975 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper: Annie was a Sydney jumper and first jumped at Labertouche on the 30/12/1966.   Another skydiving legend, she spent a short time jumping at Labertouche during her varied and adventurous life.   Annie jumped in many countries and settled for a while in London, jumping at Duck End Farm and Peterborough.

Daughter of an Australian artist, she was a fine artist herself and sometimes surprised officialdom with her true to life artistic talents.

Annie excelled at the Cardinal Puff drinking game and is probably the only Australian woman to make the rank of Pope.

She represented Australia at the 16th World Parachuting Championships at Lucenec, Czechoslovakia 1982 and the 3rd World Championships in Relative Work at Chatreauroux, France 1979 as a member of "38 Squadron"

She became a British Parachuting Champion, married Ian Swinbourne and came back to Australia to live in Queensland.

Visiting Sydney Jumper: Dingus first jumped at Labertouche on the 26th of December 1972.    He was one Australian sport parachuting's well known identities during the early development of relative work.

He was a member of the Australian Team at the 1st World Cup of Relative Work at Fort Bragg, North Carolina USA in 1973.   He travelled with the team to San Francisco but was dropped from the team before the team started to practice at Pope Valley, California.   After returning to Australia, he went back to arrive as a spectator at the World Cup.

He was a member of the team "Metrognome" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championships 10-Man Star Event (1975/76).

Dingus later went to England and ran a parachute centre there for some years before coming back to Australia and establishing the National Parachute Centre at Corowa Aerodrome on the NSW/Victoria border.   He had an accident driving his Porsche and became a paraplegic but continued to manage the centre until 19??.

Visiting Jumper:  John first jumped at Labertouche on January 1st 1974 during the 13th Nationals and took part in the 4-Way Event in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships 1974.

Visiting Jumper:   Stuart first jumped at Labertouche on December 26th 1972.   He was a member of the "The Kelly Gang" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at Labertouche 1973/74.

Visiting Jumper:   Rod first jumped at Labertouche on February 22nd 1976 from 8,000ft.

22/11/75

Visiting Jumper: Jumped at Labertouche on March 17th 1974 from 8,500ft.                             2/1/76   77

Alec first jumped at Labertouche on the 31/3/72.  He worked as volunteer at the 13th Nationals.

Immigrating from New Zealand, Alec jumped at Labertouche for a long time.   He was a rigger at the Centre and became President of Southern Cross Skydivers.

We are sure that we and Alec would both like to have a better photo here.

Visiting Jumper:   Andy first jumped at Labertouche on March 6th 1982 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:   Jim first jumped at Labertouche on December 7th 1969.

Visiting Jumper:  Bob first jumped at Labertouche on May 13th 1970.

Rick's first jump was with Southern Cross Skydivers at Pakenham in 1962.   He held APF Instructor Rating No. 37 and moved to Labertouche with the club.   

He and Lennie Hunter hitch-hiked to Western Australia.    They stopped in Kalgoorlie to look at the mines, went for a drink in a pub and took all their baggage with them.   A local recognised the gear bags and asked if they were jumpers.   It transpired that there was a group in Kalgoorlie who had bought parachutes from an American magazine advertisement and had been jumping at the local airfield without any instruction other than what they read in books.

Rick spent two years hitch-hiking around the world including 6 months in a Kibbutz. 

He jumped with the Australian Team while they were practicing at Lille in France and at the 7th World Championships in Leutkirch, Germany.    He now lives in Dandenong, Victoria.

Rick took up jumping again a couple of years ago and last year got serious about it.  After 49 jumps he had a bad landing and crushed a disc in his spine. He is recuperating and celebrated his 70th birthday and Wedding Day recently.

Visiting Jumper:  First jumped at Labertouche on February 4th 1978 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Pakenham Jumper:   A member of the Victorian Parachute Club, Jan's first jump at Labertouche was on the 24th of October 1965.

A hard core jumper, Jan made many jumps at the Centre before heading to Perth, where she was a successful artist.

After she moved to Western Australia we lost touch with her.   Jan contacted us recently, she is living south of Perth and we look forward having news of her escapades for you soon.

Visiting Jumper:  4/12/71

Gus's first jump was at Labertouche on December 28th 1975.    

A boxer turned television star, Gus jumped at the Centre as often as his television work would allow him.

He worked alongside Paul Hogan in “Crocodile Dundee 2”, “Lightning Jack” and the “Paul Hogan Show”.   Other notable movie appearances include “Doing Time for Patsy Cline”, “The Man from Snowy River” and “The Blue Lagoon”. He has also been seen in episodes of the television series “Homicide”, “Division 4”, “Matlock Police”, “Mission Impossible”, 44 episodes of, “The New Adventures of Flipper”, “All Together Now”, “Blue Heelers” and 39 episodes of “Five Mile Creek”. During all of this he was also seen on “World of Sport” on Channel 7 for 13 years.

Gus passed away in December 2010.

Visiting Jumper:  John first jumped at Labertouche on January12th 1976

Visiting jumper:  Bruce first jumped at Labertouche on January 6th 1974 from 8500ft.           23/01/76

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

Visiting Jumper:  A Brisbane jumper, Tex first jumped at Labertouche on the 8th of October 1967

Visiting Pakenham Jumper: A member of the Victorian Parachute Club, John first jumped at the Centre on the 30th January 1967 in the Labertouche Cup.

Represented Australia at the following International competitions:

2nd World Cup of Relative Work at Pretoria, South Africa 1974 as a member of "Star Pact"

Jumped as a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "Star Pact" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships (73/74) at the Centre.

In the 80's made a number of jumps with the Golden Eagles into places like the St. Kilda Football Ground.

Now lives in Albert Park, a Melbourne suburb.

Julie's first jump was at Labertouche on November 1st 1975.

Steve's first jump was at Labertouche on the 19th of December 1971.

Visiting Jumper:  David first jumped at Labertouche on the 24th of October 1965.   Most of his attendance after that was to jump at competitions or other official events. 

He was a key figure in the development of Commando Skydivers.   A top competition parachutist who represented Australia at World Championships.  He competed at all competition levels; State, National and International and took part in 31 Classic Events as a competitor, before going on to be a world class Meet Director.

David represented Australia at the 8th World Championships, Leipzig, East Germany 1966 and the 9th World Championships, Graz, Austria 1968

His ability as a championship "Meet Director" is well known. He ran the 2nd World Championships in Relative Work at Gatton, Queensland in a professional and efficient manner and at the local level made it easier to conduct national championships by devising an aircraft control system using a metal board and magnetic backed call sign tabs to keep track of each aircraft's altitude and whereabouts.   This may not seem to be important if you are not aware that the last Australian National Championships to use small aircraft had fifteen aircraft participating and aircraft separation was a serious safety concern. 

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Visiting Jumper:  Ross first jumped at Labertouche on December 26th 1975 from 8,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:   Greg first jumped at Labertouche on December 21st 1974 from 10,500ft.   

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

Visiting Canberra Jumper:   Frank first jumped at Labertouche in July 27th 1980, in September 1982 and July 1983.   He  wrote an excellent book on parachuting in Australia prior to the advent of Sport Parachuting.  It is available on the Internet.

Visiting Jumper:   Jim first jumped at the Centre in the 13th Australian Parachute Championships (73/74), was a member of the 10 Man Speed Star Team "Ramblers Raiders" and the 4-Way Team "Ramblers" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at that meet.

Visiting Jumper:   Neil first jumped at Labertouche on July 19th 1970.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche on March 26th 1981 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:    First jumped at Labertouche on March 21st 1981.

Jill's first jump was made at Labertouche on the 29th of March 1969, she was an early member of Monash University Skydiving Club.  She spent all of her spare time from her medical studies with the Club.   Sometimes making just one more jump before running to the car in a hurry to go on duty at the hospital where she was serving her internship

Jill was Australian Female Overall Champion 1970 and represented Australia at the 11th World Parachute Championships at Tahlequah, USA and she and Robin Rose won the Relative Work-Accuracy Event in the Labertouche Cup 1970

She married Jock Moir and spent some years in Canada as a Pathologist, before returning to Australia to raise a family.  While in Canada, Jill was 1st Overall at the Klondike Parachute Meet 1973 in Alberta.

Jock and Jill then went to live in country Victoria, Jock was retired from management at Alcoa in Portland and Jill was in charge of the Hamilton and Horsham Pathology Labs until she was diagnosed with cancer and spent what time she had left catching up on things she wanted to do before the illness caught up with her.

Foundation member. Jock first jump was at Pakenham in 1962.  He was a prominent competition jumper and won meets in Germany and England.  His first jump at Labertouche was on the 8th of October 1967.    He was Team Leader of Australian Teams at the 9th World Championships in Graz 1968 and Tahlequah 1970.    He stayed on overseas and became a successful design engineer.

During his stay in England he won the British Parachuting Championships.   The organisers tried to classify him in the "Foreign and Other" event but Jock produced his British passport and was awarded the trophy.  He also represented Australia at the Adriatic Cup, Pororoz, Yugoslavia 1965.

Jock's debating skills made for a good deal of entertainment at the Gatehouse dinner table.   Jock and Claude crossed debating swords regularly and if Jim Cox was there his skilled repartee added spice to the debates.   If everything was quite at the table, Jock would ask "Isn't there something we can argue about?".  A short discussion about what would be a lively enough subject would ensue and then it was "on for young and old".    Jock took great delight in being able to bait Claude into an emotional defence of any subject.

He married Jill Leyton of Monash University Skydiving Club and they lived in Canada for some years before returning to Australia.

Jock is retired to a grain and deer farm in Victoria and is president of the Deer Industry Association of Australia.   Since Jills passing Jock has sold the farm and moved to Carlton.   He still has an interest in Deer Farming administration and is studying to become an APF/FAI Judge.

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Founding partner: Bill was co-founder of Labertouche Sport Parachute Centre.  He had an ambitious nature and a determination to achieve goals.  His three month period training with the United States Army Parachute Team gave him access to the then state of the art competition training methods and he used them to great effect in the early development of the Centre.   

Bill held APF Instructor Rating No. 17 and Chief Instructor No. 10 in 1962.   He was heavily involved with Claude in the early reformation of the Australian Parachute Federation.

He was a member of the Australian Parachute Team at the 6th World Parachuting Championships at Orange, Mass. USA 1962 and the 7th  World Parachuting Championships at Leutkirch, Germany 1964.

His involvement with the Centre was cut short  in (Month, Year?) by his volunteer tour of duty in Vietnam.    On his return from Vietnam he decided to accept an offer from the army to confirm his majority and command the Parachute Training School at Williamtown, NSW.    He was in the process of winding up his involvement in the Centre when he tragically died in a car accident on his way back to barracks from a Queensland dropzone.

Bill was a great loss to both military parachuting and sport parachuting.   As a Citizen's Military Forces Lieutenant he carried out more training with the US Army's Golden Knights at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, than any other serving Australian officer at that time.    He planned to emulate the US Army Parachute Team in the Australian Army.
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Tug's first jump was at Labertouche with Southern Cross Skydivers on the 7th of September 1969, he earned his APF "A" Certificate on the 1st of December 1969, B 413 on the 1st of February 1970, C349 on the 1st of November 1970, D 255 on the 1st of April 1971, E 125 on the 1st of September 1971 and APF Instructor Rating 178 on the 1st of April 1972.

He was a partner in VH-AGF "Swampy" and was a core jumper and pilot at the Centre until he married and decided to sail his yacht around the world.  He and Diane circumnavigated the globe and were half way around the second time before settling down in Clearwater, Florida, USA, where Tug's computer skills were in demand.

Tug attended the World Parachuting Championships in Hungary in support of the Australian Team and was the life of the party at the country banquet put on by the team's sponsor in an effort to have the team imbibe too much.    The team's host, an army general, was a little startled but enjoyed the spectacular act.

The APF membership was on Tug's computer bureau discs until the so called Mini-Computer came along and the APF moved to in house computing.

Tug now lives in Clearwater, Florida USA where it appears that the local IT Industry made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

He visits Australia to see his family occasionally, let's hope he says hello next time he comes over.

Visiting Jumper:  Ian first jumped at Labertouche on January 30th 1982.

Visiting Jumper:  Dave jumped at the Centre in the 13th Australian Parachute Championships (73/74) and on later occasions over the next few years.

Visiting Jumper:   Milt first jumped at Labertouche on February 17th 1980 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:   Steve first jumped at Labertouche on May 5th 1979 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:   Bernie first jumped at Labertouche on the 27th of December 1970.

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

Visiting jumper:   Dave first jumped at Labertouche on December 24th 1975 from 7,000ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Geoff first jumped at Labertouche on April 25th 1975 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:   First jumped at Labertouche during the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships on December 31st 1973.   

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

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

Ray represented Australia at the 4th World Championships in Relative Work, Zephyrhills, Florida, USA 1981 and the 6th World Championships in Relative Work, Mali Losinj, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) 1985.

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

Visiting Perth Jumper:  Claude first jumped at Labertouche in the 19773/74 Nationals.

Visiting Jumper:  Les first jumped at Labertouche from 8,000ft 0n 13/4/74

Visiting Perth Jumper:   Stan jumped at the Centre as a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "La Cosa Nostra" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships and in the 13th Style and Accuracy Championships (73/74)  

He was a member of the team "Wings of Lemon" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championship 10-Man Star Event. (1975/76)

Visiting Jumper:  Max first jumped at Labertouche on May 5th 1979 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Jumper:  Wally jumped at Labertouche starting 13th December 1965 as a member of the West Australian Team training for the Port Pirie Nationals.

Visiting Jumper: Bob was the leader of the Rambler's team that came to Labertouche to practice for the National Championships at which the team to represent Australia at the 10th World Parachuting Championships, in Bled, Yugoslavia would be chosen.

The team was successful and Bob, Dave McEvoy and Phil Whatmore all won a place on the Australian Team for the 10th World Parachuting Championships, Bled, Yugoslavia (now in Slovenia) 1970.

Bob ran a strict training program for Classic Event competitors at Ramblers dropzone with excellent results.  He had the ability to analyse the teams performance and insist on continual practice to iron out any strategies or faults.

He moved to the USA to further his competition coaching skills but tragically on a brief trip home to visit family and friends, was killed in a car accident on his way home from a party with jumpers. Bob's demise was a sad blow for Australian skydiving.

See Jan Petty

Andy first jumped at Labertouche off a visitation load from Moorooduc in early 1981.

He was a regular jumper at the Centre for a year or two in the eighties.

On one jump he caught his finger in the Blue Goose hand grip and left the last joint in the handle.

Andy was ACT Novice Accuracy Champion in 1978, won the Accuracy Silver Medal in the 1992 Australian Nationals, represented Australia at the 1994 World Championships in Chengdu, China and won a place on the Australian Team to the 2006 Classic World Championships to be held in Russia.

He was a member of "Wally Wombat's Warriors 4-Way Team at the 1980 Australian Nationals and Co-organiser of the 1995 and 1996 Classic Events Nationals at Redcourt, Victoria.

Married with three kids, his son Tom did a tandem on Australia Day into Albert Park with illustrious company: Janine and Ken Hills, Terry Murphy, Gavin Cooke, John Winkler and Craig Trimble.  Dave Boulter was the Tandem Master.

Seen at left piloting his new interest, a ???

One of sport parachuting's gentleman jumpers.

Visiting Jumper:  Garry first jumped at Labertouche on January 4th 1973 from 8,500ft.   He competed in the 1973/74 Nationals.

He jumped as a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "Leroy Brown" in the 2nd Relative Work Championships (73/74)

Craig's first jump was at Labertouche on June 12th 1976, he qualified for his Certificate "A" on April 2nd 1978

Visiting Jumper:   Frank first jumped at Labertouche on November 20th 1976.

Visiting Jumper:   Helen first jumped at Labertouche on December 27th 1975 from 8,000ft without clothing.

Visiting Jumper:   Maureen first jumped at Labertouche on December 31st 1975.

Visiting Jumper:  Peter first jumped at Labertouche on January 5th 1967.

Visiting Jumper:   Terry first jumped into Labertouche on a load from Pakenham on the 26th of June 1983.

His first Labertouche load was on July 12th 1981 from 8,500ft and then on the 24th of July 1983.

Visiting Jumper:  Phil first jumped at Labertouche on April 29th 1972 as a member of  "The Rebels" team in the  72/73 Nationals.

Visiting Jumper:  Russ first jumped at Labertouche on March 8th 1981 from 8,500ft.

Visiting Northern Territory jumper: Tony first jumped at Labertouche on June 5th 1976.

Visiting Sydney Jumper: Gary made his first jump at Wilton in August 1970.  He moved around on the east coast before migrating to Tasmania in 1986.   He first jumped at Labertouche in December 1975/76 as a member of the Gold Medal winning team "Ramblers Raiders" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championship 10-Man Star Event. (1975/76)

Gary was APF Director Instructors for seven years from 1991 to 1998.

He was Chief Instructor - Western Districts Skydivers (NSW) 1981/1983, Operations Manager - NSW Parachute School 1983/86, Chief Instructor - Island Skydivers 1986/93 and was APF Director - Instructors 1991 to 1998.   He was APF Director - Safety 1998 to 2000.

Gary was Head of Delegation for Australian Parachute Teams to Thailand and Taiwan in 1982.   He was Safety Officer at the World Skydiving Championships at Corowa, NSW in 1999.

He was APF Delegate to two IPC International Technical Congress' in Budapest 1991 and Helsinki 1993. 

He is now part owner of a recreational scuba diving centre at Eaglehawk Neck 75km south east of Hobart and has been very active in that field as well as keeping up with a heavy parachuting administrative role over the years.

One of skydiving's hard working and dedicated volunteers.

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