Jumpers  

that  jumped

   with

Eagle Skydivers

at

Pakenham

Officers and Staff

Claude Gillard

Chief Instructor:  Claude was the founding Chief Instructor and President of Eagle Skydivers.

When Labertouche Sport Parachute Centre lost its lease at Labertouche, he implemented Eagle Skydivers and sub-let the old Southern Cross Skydivers shed at Pakenham from Commando Skydivers as a temporary measure until the operation could move to its new home in Shady Creek. 

The staff from Labertouche Skydivers stayed on with Eagle Skydivers and it was a very smooth transition from Labertouche to Pakenham.

When planning permission for the new Centre at Shady Creek was refused, he fought on through the Appeals Tribunal but to no avail. 

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Jean took over the social end of the Southern Cross shed and downsized the Snack Bar to fit.

Though they never made a jump, she and her daughter Michelle were very much a part of the skydiving scene.  Good food at more than reasonable prices remained her motto and she adjusted from the spacious facilities at Labertouche to the rather cramped but comfortable small facility in the new environment.

She continued to have a robust social contact with the jumpers and enjoyed the more intimate contact with her customers in the smaller facilities.

She was sorry it all came to an end when Eagle Skydivers folded because it could not find another dropzone.

Jean died of a heart attack in November 1989 and Michelle passed away in September 2000 as a result of lung cancer. 

Steve Filak

As Instructor-in-Charge of Continuation Training, Steve was responsible for the progression of students as they were passed on from their Basic Training Instructor.  His professionalism was responsible for the large percentage of student jumpers that were passed on to Claude or Colin for advanced training. 

Although Accelerated Freefall training had become popular, Steve was held in high esteem by its proponents because he had been practicing it as a remedial measure many years before it was recognised as an approved system.

Steve was also the Centre Rigger and was still the Golden Eagles Jumpmaster.  He planned the displays, decided jump strategy and still did the aircraft spotting himself. 

He had been involved in skydiving from its Australian beginnings and was still an enthusiast.

Colin Holt

In 1985, Colin was appointed Chief Instructor of Eagle Skydivers.  He was a consummate organiser and whether it was drawing up training sheets or where to eat tonight, he would always have plan for it.

His "Take the Mickey out of the colonials" attitude was still with him and still  endeared him to his students.  He was a very popular instructor.

He later started a parachute school at Wangaratta that had lots of problems with the local Shire.

Colin was active in all spheres of skydiving and divided his involvement between instructing and flying until he recently embarked on a serious change in his life and the new direction keeps him busy seven days each week.

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Richard McCooey

Instructor:  Richard completed his basic static line training at Labertouche with Roy Taylor in 1980 as part of a large group from Monash University.

He then did considerable Instructor training under Colin Holt until he earned his Senior Instructor rating at the age of 21.

Richard became Chief Instructor at various Parachute Centres, as well as Victorian Area Safety Officer and Australian Parachute Federation National Director of Safety.

He is also a commercial pilot and experienced jump pilot.

Richard now has an executive role in a large Corporation in Shanghai, China.

John Chapman

Instructor and Tandem Master:  John moved with the Club from Labertouche when it commenced operations on the 7th of August 1983.

Built many of the Clubs training aids and was sub-contracted as the Club's Tandem master.

Went on to become an APF Employee as 

Is heavy into Hang Gliding these days,

Tim Cousins

Tim was a Labertouche Skydivers Jumpmaster and shifted to Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

Dominic Healy

Dominic was a Labertouche Skydivers Jumpmaster and shifted to Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

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Graham Cooper

Graham first acted as a Jumpmaster at Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983

Rodney Wilson

Rod was a Labertouche Skydivers Instructor and first jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 10th of September 1983.

Sailed his yacht to New Zealand and conducted a parachute training organisation there for some years.

Spent a lot of time at Toogoolawah on his many trips to Australia and at present manages the dropzone there.

Ross Barstow

George Creecy

George was the Accelerated Free Fall Instructor for Eagle Skydivers from ??/??/?? to ??/??/??

Adam Williams

Ray Patten

Danny Mathewson

Dominic Healy

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Leo Gronendyk

Eagle Skydivers Members

11.08.1949 - 25.09.2020 Passed away in 2020.

Made his first jump with Eagle Skydivers from VH-FXK at Pakenham on the 2nd of February 1985.

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David made his first jump with Eagle Skydivers at Pakenham on the 23rd of November 1985.

He was still jumping when last seen at the World POPS Meet, Toogoolawah, Queensland in May 2008.

Tess Carington

John Boustead

John first jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th August 1983.

Jim Brierley

20/9/1924 - 29/6/2020

Jim made his first recreational jump with Labertouche Skydivers on the 23rd of April 1983.

Jim was a World War 2 paratrooper who always had a yen to jump again.  After becoming a widower, he decided that he could realise his ambition and came to Labertouche to do so.  After a turbulent student training and a few low openings, Jim got the feel of skydiving and went on to amass 3,000 jumps over 25 years and was still actively jumping at age 89.

Jim was living proof of the POPS motto "You don't give up jumping because you're old, you get old because you give up jumping".

In later years, Jim jumped with Commando Skydivers at Tooradin with the club holding an annual accuracy competition bearing Jim's name.

Jim died peacefully with his second wife Barbara by his side in 2020.

Graham was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 7th of August 1983.

Tim was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

John was a Monash Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 7th of August 1983.

Gary was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 20th of August 1983.

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Roman was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend, the 7th of August 1983.

Leo Gronendyk

Gonzo's first jump was made at Pakenham on the 2nd of October 1983.  He became an Eagle Skydivers Instructor and held APF Parachutist Certificate E571.

We hear that Gonzo is now a successful clothing designer.

Fred was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 14th of August 1983.

Dominic was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 7th of August 1983.

Graham was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

Linda Hill

Andrew Hopkins

John Houston

John was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

Paul was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

Peter was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

Collette made her first jump at Pakenham with Eagle Skydivers on the 02/10/1983.  Collette was a television actress/celebrity and footage of the training course and her first jump were televised on the "In Melbourne Tonight" show.

Julian was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 7th of August 1983.

Danny was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 7th of August 1983.  Became on Instructor on the ??/??/??

Tim was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 7th of August 1983.

Tony was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

Alistair was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

Craig was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 14th of August 1983 from 9,000ft.

Graeme first jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 20th of August 1983.

Mark was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the opening weekend on the 7th of August 1983.

One of Australia's leading Air to Air Cameramen, he has worked on many commercial projects. F240

She worked for the Australian Parachute Federation in its Mentone Building after having been employed by the Royal Victorian Aero Club for many years.

Tim made his first jump with Eagle Skydivers on the 21/08/1983.

Frank was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 13th of August 1983.

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Adam was a Labertouche Skydivers jumper and jumped with Eagle Skydivers on the 10th of September 1983.

 Markus made his first jump at Pakenham East on the ??/??/85 and was a regular jumper for some time.

He is now a Maintenance Engineer and lives in North Dandenong.

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Visiting Jumpers

Audette Excel

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