Visiting Jumper: First jump at Labertouche on 30/01/1966

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

Peter died of natural causes in November 1998.

Participated in Jumpmaster Course at Labertouche, September 1981.

Bugsie's first jump was at Labertouche on ??

Another skydiver who carved a place for himself in aviation.  Rob is a refrigeration technician with a thirst for adventure.   His exploits in his Piper Tri-Pacer that he converted to tail wheel configuration are legendary.

Always ready to jump with the Golden Eagles and never away from the dropzone on weekends for many years, he was the "fix it" man at the Centre.

Rob owned a Piper Tri-Pacer that he converted to a 'tail dragger'.   It was a plane that had been a regular jumpship at Pakenham in the early 60's and on one occasion back then, Steve Filak and Claude asked the pilot to 'take it up till it smokes' and got 12,500ft for exit.

As one of the consortium who brought FXK to Labertouche, he shared most of the flying of that aircraft with Colin Holt and Sam Smalley.

Now married and raising a family he is still making the occasional jump.

John's first jump was made at Labertouche on the 29th of March 1969 with Monash University Skydivers.

He was a member of the "The Valley Rats" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at Labertouche 1973/74.

John was a member of the Australian Relative Work Team 1975 "Joint Effort" that won the silver medals at the 1st World Championships of Relative Work Parachuting at Warendorf, West Germany that year.   Unfortunately he suffered a leg injury in training and was unable to participate in the competition.

John went on to etc

Dave's first jump was made with Melbourne University Parachute Club at Labertouche on the 4th of April 1976.

After moving to Texas, USA he became involved in Accelerated Free Fall training and qualified as an AFF Instructor in January 1983 (The first Australian to do so).

Dave, Mike Dyer and Greg Chambers qualified as Tandem Pilots under Bill Booth at Deland, Florida, USA in September 1984.  He, Greg Chambers and John Chapman established the first tandem only operation in Australia at Pakenham, Victoria.

He was involved with the National Safety Council of Australia with an interest in Tandem as an aid to SAR until its demise.

His work as a scientist took him to Adelaide, he became part of its skydiving core group and was Chairman of the South Australian Parachute Council for 2 years in the early 1990's.  He is currently working on the development of a gene based cure for cystic fibrosis.

Dave's wife Michelle is also an experienced skydiver (1000 plus jumps) and they have two children, Jack and Natalea.

Visiting Jumper:  A member of Jindivik Sport Parachute Club, Bob's first jump at Labertouche was on 16/04/1966.

Visiting Commando Skydivers Jumper:  John  first jumped at Labertouche on the 18th of September 1968.   

He went to California to chase the good jumping and stayed for some years before coming back to Melbourne.

John was a member of the 10 Man Speed Star Team "Star Pact" at the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships 1974.

Visiting Jumper:  Pat first jumped at Labertouche on December 4th 1967.

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

The photo at left was taken when Ray was participating in an advertising shoot for a portable television set.  He was suspended from a cherry picker for a part of the promotion.

When last heard off; Ray was an Air Traffic Controller in Western Australia.

John's first jump was at Labertouche on the 28th of October 1972.

Visiting Jumper:  Bob first jumped at Labertouche on December 31st 1969

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

Gary was an APF Board Member and was Chairman of the Board for a term.

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

Jenny represented Australia at the 9th World Parachuting Championships in Graz, Austria and was a leader in West Australian parachuting for many years.

See also Jenny Stafford.

Foundation member.  Ron was an active jumper with 1RVR Parachute Club and Southern Cross Skydivers, he organised most of the club's social activities at Labertouche.   A staunch Southern Cross Skydivers supporter, he organised the first Southern Cross reunion at Labertouche in 1971.

Ron jumped in the 13th Australian Parachute Championships (73/74) at the Centre.

He was an optical technician and also spent some years working on the north-west coast of Australia; cut off from mainstream jumping.

Ron was one of the first jumpers to switch from fore and aft equipment to the piggyback system and is seen at left wearing an early Crossbow system.

We have lost contact with Ron, if you know of his whereabouts, let him know that we would welcome contact.

6/6/71

Visiting Canadian jumper:  Don first jumped at Labertouche on the 10th of December 1966.   He and his wife travelled from Canada for a jumping holiday.

A Nursing Sister and Southern Cross Skydivers member, Jan first jumped at Labertouche on the 28th November 1965.

Jan became an active parachuting administrator.   She was Team Leader of the Australian Team that went to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, USA, for the First World Cup of Relative Work in 1973.

Jan was married to two legendary skydivers: Bob Morrison who was killed in a car accident on his way home from a skydiving party and later to Geoff Bingham.   

When her second marriage broke up, she sailed her yacht to Tasmania and did a bit of lobster fishing.   She sailed as Engineer on cruise boats up the Gordon River, was Master of the "SS James Goodwin" for some time and is now working in Remote Area Nursing and living in Zeehan, Tasmania.

After a few years jumping at the Centre, Robyn did a lot of jumping in Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs before heading to the United States where she worked at dropzones on and off for five years doing AFF and camera.

Then back to Australia, jumping at Kooralbyn, Coolangatta and Byron Bay.   

Along the way Robyn married Lou Armstrong (a well known Northern Territory jumper) and they now live on the NSW North Coast and have two daughters, Shelly and Page.

One of the Centre's products of which we are proud, a ready smile and vibrant personality assure Robyn of success at whatever she turns her hand to.   

Joe was working as a tour guide in Thailand for some years and returned to Czechoslovakia when perestroika took hold in the Eastern Block.

Visiting Jumper:  Jim came to Labertouche to practice for the Port Pirie Nationals in December 1965.

Jim was a wool classer and a parachute instructor.   He took parachuting with him wherever he worked.

Jim started a parachute club in Hobart, Tasmania in 196? and it was active each year when Jim arrived for the shearing season.

One of the pioneers that spread parachuting wherever he went, when last heard from Jim had settled down on a farm close to Brisbane

As a member of the Parachute Regiment's Red Devils, Aussie came to Labertouche with "The Peregrines", a British Army team to practice for the Australian Parachute Championships that were to be held at the Centre over the Christmas/New Year 1996/97.

On his return to Australia, Aussie spent ? years with the SAS and now conducts a parachuting operation in Perth.

Ralph is now Chief Instructor of Commando Skydivers and a member of the APF Board.

Hilary became an international jumper spending a lot of time jumping in the USA.

Sue accompanied Bruce Towers when he ferried his Piper Navajo VH-EYF from the USA to Australia via Honolulu, ? and New Guinea.   She spent time at the Centre over the period of the 11th Australian Parachute Championships and the Labertouche Cup.   Winning the gold in the ? event of the Nationals and etc.

Sue was a member of the USA Parachute Team at Graz, Austria in 1970.   The Australian Team gave Sue and Gloria Porter a lift to Germany to catch the US C-130 home to the USA.

Bob came to Australia via New Zealand in 196?. he and his young wife had a two year work permit.

Bob was a keen competition jumper and immediately became involved in the organisation of competitions at Labertouche.

Towards the end of their two year stay in Australia, Bob and Candy spent some time as Safari Guides and were given a stock market tip by on of their Safari bus passengers.   The shares were Poseidon and they bought a parcel of shares.  Some months later after they returned to Phoenix, Arizona they were pleasantly surprised by the results of their investment.

Bob is into body building these days and so his excellent physique is even better than it was when he was here.

Candy first jumped at Labertouche on the ??/196?.  She was a joy to be around, quick to smile and an excellent skydiver.

Candy and Bob Ranney brought new Para-Commanders with them and were taken aback by the NZ requirement that all advanced design parachutes had to be test jumped by the Chief Instructor before they could be used on a NZ dropzone.   They were relieved and happy that no such requirement was in force at Labertouche.

These two ambassadors for USA jumping spent two years jumping around Australia and then spent some time as tour group escorts in outback Western Australia.   The were fortunate enough to invest in Poseidon shares before they left and so have many reasons to appreciate this country.

In 1972 the Australian Team taking part in the 11th WPC in Tahlequah, Oklahoma were on their way back to San Francisco and were hosted in Phoenix, Arizona by  Bob and Candy.   A great time was had by all riding motor cycles through the Arizona dessert, water skiing on Lake Apache and riding the rapids on the Salk River.

Those who remember Claude wearing his Stetson hat on the dropzone have Bob and Candy to thank.   Claude had admired Norm Heaton's cowboy hat at the World Meet and was presented with an authentic Stetson by these Arizona Skydivers.

Visiting Jumper:   Sonny is an American who came to visit with his brother Bob and stayed to jump and live the good life on Australian beaches for a while.   He teamed up with Denny Clarke, another American and  John Clark, an Englishman to rent a beachside house in Saint Kilda.   As all three held the rank of "Pope" in the Cardinal Puff fraternity and held regular Friday night "Cardinal Sessions" in the residence, the house was soon referred to by the jumpers as The Vatican.

Sonny left Australia to become captain of a landing craft trading up and down the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.   Last heard of, he was living in Singapore.  We feel sure that wherever he is, the local's lives will be the merrier for it.

He started jumping at Sibson (UK) on November 26th 1972 and migrated to Australia in September 1974.  

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

Marty spent 18 months in Saudi Arabia and South Africa (1977/78) and holds APF Parachutists Certificate F102.

He spent some time in the late '70s early '80s as Chief Instructor with Cairns Skydivers and Newcastle Sport Parachute Club and judged at several Australian and World Championships. 

Marty is now married to Linh and domiciled in Vietnam.  He can be contacted via mratia@bigpond.net.au

Noel made his first jump at Caloundra in March 1972.  He first jumped at Labertouche on December 22nd 1975 from 8,000ft and stayed on to jump with the experienced relative workers there.    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)

He became an Australian RW Team member and brought a scientific approach to RW.   He was the author of the present formation skydiving rotary scoring system.  He explained the concept to Claude, who took it to the FAI Parachuting Commission and it was accepted by the RW Sub-Committee.

Noel represented Australia as a member of the Australian 8-Way Relative Work Team "Secret Team" at the 2nd WPC in Relative Work at Gatton, Queensland 1977, as a member of the Australian 4-Way Team "9 to 5" at the 4th WPC in Relative Work at Zephyr Hills, Florida, USA 1981 and again as a member of "9 to 5" at a "Friendship Meet" in Anyang, China 1982.

Noel is now living on the South Queensland coast with his wife Karen and those of his four children that are not scattered  around the world in places like China and the United Kingdom.

Mike was a member of the 1975 Australian Champion 10-Man Relative Work Team "Joint Effort".

Mike spent many years involved in the administration of the Newcastle Sport parachute Club.   

She jumped during the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships (73/74) at the Centre and during 1974.

He had some of his freefall photographs published in "The Sun" newspaper during that competition.

Mick became an international freefall cameraman and is now one of the worlds top freefall cinematographers.

He was a member of the "The Kelly Gang" 10-Man Star Team in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at Labertouche 1973/74.

Barry became a member of "Starpact" a relative work team that competed for Australia in the ??    15/12/74

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

See "Staff" section.

Robin's first jump at Labertouche was a static line continuation jump on 11/05/69.  His ab initio training was conducted at ??

Robin was committed to formation skydiving; known then as RW (relative work).    He was an RW Tutor and contributed to the success of Centre skydivers in that field.  

He was a member of the "The Valley Rats" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at Labertouche 1973/74.  

He was a member of the Australian Relative Work Team 1975 "Joint Effort" that won silver medals at the 1st World Championships of Relative Work Parachuting at Warendorf, West Germany that year.

Wendy was a hard core relative work skydiver and was a member of the "The Valley Rats" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships at Labertouche 1973/74.

She accompanied the Australian Skydiving Team to Warendorf, West Germany in 1975 when it won the silver medals in the 8-Way Relative Work Event.

American born Hawk was a professional photographer and Sydney restaurateur, well known in the Australian skydiving community for his flamboyant lifestyle.

Always on hand to give the Australian Team some help and advice, he is one of skydiving's many characters that live life to the fullest. 

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

Djoni became Secretary of the Federation Aero Sport Indonesia, Indonesian Delegate to the FAI Parachuting Commission and an Indonesian Delegate to the FAI.

He still holds his position with FASI and was a candidate in the Indonesian national elections held in 199?

Laurie has won ?? gold medals in national competitions and a bronze medal in the World Parachuting Championships at Lucenc, Czechoslovakia 1982.  He holds the Australian accuracy record with 17? consecutive dead centre landings in competition.

A heavy landing on a tandem jump with a malfunctioned canopy severely damaged both of his heels and resulted in his losing his right leg below the knee.   The extent of his injury was increased by his selfless decision to absorb all of the landing shock and protect his tandem passenger.

The loss of his limb does not appear to have slowed Laurie down, he continues to train foreign elite troops in special warfare skills and do things like trek the route of the World War II Burma railway.

She married and gave up parachuting soon after Labertouche commenced operations.

Bernie's first jump was at Labertouche on October 30th 1967.
In time he became the parachuting king of the Latrobe Valley (a large agricultural and open cut mining region in Victoria to the east of Labertouche).

If you needed someone to jump into a wedding, a football match, a union meeting or even a birthday party, you would get in touch with Bernie and he would arrange it.   Some of Bernie's Latrobe Valley parachute displays would have been on the fringe of legality but they were always carried out with the utmost care for safety.

If the conversation turns to "parachuting firsts" Bernie is likely to point out that he made the first "legal" jump from a glider in Australia.   

He was on occasions a guest jumper with the Golden Eagles and at times arranged for the Eagles to perform at function like the speed boat races on Glen Maggie weir.

He organised the Australian Chapter of POPS (Parachutists Over Phorty) and was inaugural Australian Top Pop from 1981 until 1994.

He returned to New Zealand and took up flying ultra-lights.  He married and had three children.

Returning to Australia, he established an Ultra-Light Aircraft Flying School and became active in the politics of aviaition.

On ??/??/?? he was fatally injured in a light aircraft accident.

An accomplished relative worker, Ski was a member of 

Rob bought an ultra-light aircraft in the 70's and still jumps and flies the ultra-light nowadays.

Visiting Pakenham jumper:   Ojar first jumped at Labertouche in 1965.   A well known member of the Victorian Parachute Club.  14/12/74

Visiting Queensland jumper: Kathy made her first jump in Mount Isa in 1973.  Ray Massavelli must be very proud of his ab initio student.   She first jumped at Labertouche on December 23rd 1973.

Kathy's jumping at Labertouche was mainly as a Nationals competitor, her first competition was the 1973/74 Nationals with less than a year in the sport.   She is probably the most experienced female competitor in Australia.   In addition to extensive classic event participation, she represented Australia as a relative worker in the 3rd World Championships in Relative Work at Chateauroux, France in 1979 and jumped in both Accuracy and 4-Way RW at a friendship competition in China in 1981.

Colonel Sam came to Labertouche with Cessna 205 VH FXK. Sam took to the Labertouche skydiving and social scene with enthusiasm.  He first jumped at Labertouche on ??/??/??

An integral member of the Golden Eagles Display Team, he worked hard and played hard during his time at the Centre.

His after army life included a fast food outlet in Queensland and an interest in riding a Harley Davidson.

Last seen at the Airworld Museum in Wangaratta, we have lost touch with Sam.

Visiting jumper: Clive made his first jump at Wagga Wagga on ?? with Wagga Skydivers while serving in the Australian Army.   He first jumped at Labertouche on ??

When stationed in Melbourne, Clive was active in the organisation of relative work during its early development from 4-Way through to large stars.

Clive became an APF Board Member in 1970 and except for a couple of short intervals, has served as a Board Member for most of the time until 19??.  He was National Safety Officer for two years 1976/77.

Clive was Chairman of the APF Relative Work Workgroup set up in 1975 to recommend rules to cover RW Instruction.

After his military service he joined IBM and later moved to Perth where he opened the Dale River? dropzone and has been operating a skydiving centre there for ? years.

Clive has had a long association with Indonesian skydiving, training many of their instructors and tandem masters.

Colin's first jump was at Labertouche on May 29th 1977.   He  was one of the many Victorian Police officers that jumped at the Centre.   He was a member of the Special Branch that looked after the violent end of police work.

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

He was on the first load to jump at the Centre and disappeared from the scene soon after. The Southern Cross books of account disappeared with him.

Visiting Jumper: Dave first jumped at Labertouche on January 3rd 1974 as a member of the 10 Man Speed Star Team "Apple Tart".  An able administrator with Parachutes Australia, Dave eventually becoming a full partner in the business and remained with the firm as CEO when it became part of a multi-national company.

Later he became Executive Director of the Australian Parachute Federation, a position he has served with distinction until the time of writing.

Dave served as APF Director Rigging from 1975 to 1980 and again from 1984 to 1994.

Eddie, a guitarist, was always popular at boogies and special occasions for the sing-along sessions.

An outback type, we first encountered Eddie jumping in Townsville and he has lived for many years in Alice Springs.

Frank became a Centre Instructor  and in 19?? purchased the skydiving school at Corowa.   

Frank worked in public relations with Telstra and had a Telstra Display Team for some years.

He has since disposed of his interest in the skydiving school but has stayed on as Chief Instructor.

During the time they spent in Victoria, Jean and her husband Clive were active in many facets of the sport.   Clive produced a Relative Work Newsletter and Jean was APF Historian for a number of years.   An accountant, Jean also audited the APF books for many years.

Jean's smiling face was always a welcome sight at Gatehouse social evenings.

Bill, Charl Stewart and Billy Gully were all on the first civilian parachute course in Victoria at the McKenzie Flying School.  

Bill and Charl Stewart went on a world tour and jumped in places like Ireland, England and the Soviet Union.   When they left, they were the only Victorians making civilian parachute jumps.  On their return they were surprised to find that there had been an upsurge in civilian parachuting and there were ten or more people jumping regularly and more joining every week and there were civilian clubs in Queensland and New South Wales and the Australian Parachute Federation had been formed.

Shane's first jump was at Labertouche on October 10th 1980.  He was taken with freefall photography very early in his jump career.

He put a lot of effort into his camera jumping and upon gaining a position with the national Safety Council, was able to hone his skills to the point that he was in great demand as a cameraman at competitions, then in the media and finally in the video production industry.

Shane represented Australia at the 7th WPC in Relative Work in Foz du Iguacu, Brazil in 1987.  Having a penchant for taking it to the edge of the envelope, Shane became involved in BASE jumping and excelled in that also.  That same disposition took him into Canopy Relative Work and he was a member of the Australian CRW teams at the 3rd WPC in CRW, Chaingmai, Thailand 1990, the 4th WPC in CRW, Chengdu 1992, China and the 7th WPC in CRW, Eloy 1998, Arizona USA.

Today Shane is one of the world's top free fall cameramen working in film production at the highest level.   He is recognised internationally but remains modest and unaffected by his success.

A great Labertouchian.

Karl jumped with "Ramblers" at Beaudesert while studying physiotherapy in Brisbane.   He moved back to Melbourne for a couple of years (78/79) before moving again to Queensland and then overseas.   He married Jill Forsdike who he met at Toogoolawah, then moved to Switzerland for 4 years and returned to Oz in 1985.   

Karl coached John Grieg in slalom snow skiing for the ParaSki World Meet.   He now lives in Northern NSW enjoying the seaside life style and surfing.

Visiting West Australian Jumper: First jumped at Labertouche on the 11th January 1970

Visiting Jumper:  An SAS military jumper, Bob came to Labertouche with 190 jumps as a member of the West Australian team to train for the Port Pirie nationals.  He made his 191st jump at the Centre on 11/12/1965

He was a member of the Australian Team at the 9th World Parachuting Championships in Graz, Austria 1968

In 1969 Bob was flying his Cessna aircraft from Perth to Melbourne to attend the Australian Parachute Federation AGM with five other jumpers, all of whom were involved in sport parachuting administration.   The aircraft crashed into Mount Ararat, killing all on board.  It was a terrible blow to West Australian and national parachuting.   Bob was a rising star with great potential and we all mourn his passing.

He w as a member of the team "Wings of Lemon" in the 4th Australian Relative Work Championship 10-Man Star Event. (1975/76)  He spent a week training before that event and left without paying his bill.   

Visiting Pakenham jumper:   Brian first jumped at the Centre in the Labertouche Cup of 1969.  

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

He was a regular visitor and once loaned Claude a Rolls Royce.

Wendy married Robin Rose and went on to become a successful relative worker.

See also Wendy Rose  

A member of Southern Cross Skydivers, Denis first jumped at Labertouche mid 1965 as one of the Centre's early students.   He took to skydiving like a fish to water and was a dedicated jumper at the centre for some years.

Denis, like many others eventually married, settled down to raise a family.

He broke a leg and was out of action for a long time.   He and wife Roeli had Snowtels Caravan Park in Cooma for many years and they still live in the Cooma area.

Alan's first jump was at Labertouche on the 25th of April 1974 as a member of Monash University Skydivers.

Always the entrepreneur, Alan organised the first parachuting competition into Melbourne City Centre.   Sponsored by Target Department Store, the competitors were lifted to jump height by a Bell helicopter, landing on a 10 metre sand pit in a 50 metre diameter circle on the bank of the Yarra River alongside the tennis complex.

As soon as he had the qualifications, Allan organised a dropzone.   Eventually opening a student training facility at ??, that he lost when an Emu farmer won a legal hassle against the dropzone.

He moved to the National Sport Aviation Centre at Wangaratta for a few months and then developed the dropzone at ??.    He now operates a Tandem Operation in the Yarra Valley at Coldstream.

Visiting Jumper: Bob came to Labertouche in 1969 to jump in the Victorian Championships.

Bob had developed his own parachute centre at Dairy Flat, north of Auckland, New Zealand using the Labertouche Training Manual.   Bob is better known these days as the father of Tim Stevens, who was one of Australia's leading formation skydiving coaches.

Bob has lived in Australia for many years now and has just returned home from a year working as a volunteer, helping New Guinea to develop its engineering skills.

Peter jumped as a member of the 10-Man Speed Star Team "Leroy Brown" and the 4-Way Team "Gaye's Gobblers" in the 2nd Australian Relative Work Championships (73/74)

Steve and Bernie Keenan took over the production of Australian Skydiver magazine from Trevor Burns in ??, ??

One of Australia's most successful competition jumpers, 13 Gold Medals, 10 Silver and 2 Bronze at all levels from State Championships through to World Championships.

Swinny organised the 10-Way Speed Star Team "Joint Effort" that took the Silver Medals in the 1st Relative Work World Championships at Warendorf, Germany in 1975 and throughout his involvement in competition parachuting was a mover and groover.

At the 3rd Relative Work World Championships, Ian organised the Australian 8-Way Sequential Team into a 10-Man Speed Star Team and set a new World Record of 5.89 seconds, beating the previous USSR time by 2 seconds.

His accuracy credentials are also impressive with 11 consecutive dead centre landings in the Australian Championships 1982 and a World Championships Bronze Medal in the Team Event at Lucenec, Czecholsovakia 1982 amongst his successes.

He married Annie McKie, now lives in ??? and is a recreational pilot with his own aircraft.                      More Detail