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Claude Gillard

Chief Instructor:  Claude was the founding Chief Instructor/Manager of Labertouche Sport Parachute Centre and President of Labertouche Skydivers.

In the early 60's, other than the DCA Air Navigation Orders, Australian civilian parachuting had no written guidelines or rules.    Claude was issued his civil parachute instructor rating on the strength of having made fifty jumps and being a qualified military jumper.  He was issued APF Instructor Rating No. 9 and Chief Instructor Rating No. 4 in 1962. (The CI Rating no longer exists, was replaced by the Senior Instructor Rating with approval to act as Chief Instructor)

Hampered by the lack of paperwork, he set about producing it.   The operations manuals, instructor manuals and training programs that he wrote for Labertouche Sport Parachute Centre were the basis on which the Australian Parachute Federation built its operational structure.

 When the Centre closed and he was unable to obtain town planning permission to continue development of his dream dropzone, he retired to pursue his honorary work with the Australian Parachute Federation, the FAI Parachuting Commission, the Australian Sport Aviation Confederation and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

In 2001 Claude stood down from his last honorary position to spend more time with his wife Candy and infant son Benjamin.  

He and Candy have recently divorced and Claude made a Tandem Jump since but is unlikely to take up jumping again. Even in retirement he is  still busy.

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Deputy Chief Instructor:   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.

His involvement with the Centre was cut short in October 1966 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.    

The 15 months he spent on the Centre staff were an enjoyable part of his life and only his patriotism was able to convince him to volunteer for service in Vietnam.   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 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the US Army's Golden Knights than any other serving Australian officer at that time.

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Catering Manager:  Jean tried hard to wean Claude off parachuting and when she realised that it was impossible, she joined him and developed a snack bar and a catering/accommodation venture at the Centre.

Soon after Claude took up sport parachuting Jean purchased a milk bar/delicatessen in Bridge Road, Richmond and sold it when Claude opened Southern Cross Parachutes in Malvern Road.

Jean was one of seven children brought up on a farm in Springvale and the girls were expected to have excellent cooking skills.  Whether it was a plate of sandwiches and tea for a visiting dignitary or dinner for 150 people, it miraculously appeared on time.

She became a Dorothy Dix advisor to the jumpers and treated them all as though they were family.   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 made her establishment at Labertouche a popular gathering place for jumpers.

Her grandchildren, Daniel, Jeana, Adam and Donna spent many weekends helping out at the Centre.

Jean died of a heart attack in November 1989 and Michelle passed away in September 2000 as a result of lung cancer.   Both played a big part in the success of the Centre by providing good quality on site food and pleasant company.

Foundation instructor: Steve was a core Instructor at the Centre from the beginning.  He held APF Instructor Rating No. 12.

He was in charge of student continuation training and was always at the cutting edge of freefall training techniques.     

As Instructor-in-Charge of Continuation Training, he 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 for competition training. 

As the Golden Eagles Jumpmaster he planned the displays, decided jump strategy and almost always did the aircraft spotting himself.  

Steve's easy-going and quick-to-smile personality covered an authoritarian attitude to all matters pertaining to safety.  His instant recognition of equipment irregularities is legendary.

Steve was always prepared to turn his hand to whatever was needed on the dropzone and as he was the fastest packer and most knowledgeable equipment inspector, over time he became the Centre Rigger. 

Foundation instructor. Lennie Hunter took over from Claude as Chief Instructor of Southern Cross Skydivers when the Centre commenced operations but also acted as backup to the Centre instructional staff.   Lennie held APF Instructor Rating No. 35 and Senior Instructor Rating No. 26.

Southern Cross moved to Labertouche immediately after the Centre was established and Lennie also became one of the senior instructors with the Centre.   

He remained a key member of the Centre team until he married and moved to the Northern Territory.     Lennie lived in the Darwin area and worked as an electrician for a major news media company.    He fell ill in early March 2008 and died of natural causes in early April 2008.   See also Southern Cross page.

Foundation instructor. Rick was an instructor with Southern Cross Skydivers.  He became an instructor in less than a year from making his first jump and was the youngest Parachuting Instructor in the country.   He held APF Instructor Rating No. 37.

He moved to Labertouche with Southern Cross Skydivers but was instructing at the Centre from its inception.    

He was Instructor-in-charge at Kiddlington, England in 1964 and jumped with the Australian Team at Lille in France and at the 7th World Championships in Leutkirch, Germany.

Rick moved out of jumping in 1968 and returned in 1988.   He now lives with his partner Bernadette in Dandenong, Victoria.

He recently accompanied Claude on a trip to Queensland to visit with as many of the jumpers from the 60's as they could.

The Hunter brothers were very much a part of the pioneer skydiving fraternity.

Geoff served as a Tracker with the 8th Battalion in Vietnam.  Now a TPI Vietnam veteran, he lives on the Queensland coast.

He was a core member of the Golden Eagles Display Team and the photograph on the left was taken at the Hobart Regatta.

Jim was a brick-layer during his jumping life but went on to become a successful business manager.

He recently came across this website and contacted Claude and is a regular visitor at the Gillard residence and is helping Claude with his home maintenance.

Jimmie is now managing a business on the Gold Coast.

Centre Instructor:  Alan made his first jump on ?? at Pakenham with Southern Cross Skydivers.   He stayed on at the Centre to become a member of the core instruction group for many years.   He worked mainly in ab-initio training and among his first jump students were Tony Hillman, Russell Jones, Roy Taylor and Tony Curl.  Alan held APF Instructor Rating No. 109

He was a Laboratory Technician with the Defence Department and was dedicated to his job and his jumping.

The Gardner family were local farmers that had an interest in aviation and Alan was entranced by Carolyn, one of the daughters.  They married and after living on the other side of Melbourne in Melton for many years, now live in the Latrobe Valley area.

Centre Instructor:   Michael commenced parachuting with Commando Skydivers in 1963.    

As a visiting jumper, with Chris Smith and Ron Pearsall, he was on the first load of the day when the Centre commenced operations in 1965 .

He became an instructor with Commando Skydivers and migrated to Labertouche in 1969.   He held APF Instructor Rating No. 86

He was jumping until 1970.   He was the APF Historian from 1964 to 1972.   Sport Parachuting can be thankful to Mike for introducing his brother Robin to the sport.

These days he flies microlights at Benella and lives in Melbourne.

Centre Instructor:    Gene, an army sergeant and parachuting instructor, was transferred to Melbourne in October 1969 and went to work as an instructor at the Centre.  Gene held APF Instructor Rating 118 and Senior Instructor Rating No. 41

Many  students will remember Gene as the hard working hard playing instructor who loved skydiving more than anything else in the world and was famous for his party tricks.   Like; eating razor blades, glass from light bulbs and cigarette butts dipped in beer as savouries.   It amazes everybody that he survived into old age.

He trained many ab initio students and was with the Centre for 2? years.

Gene moved to the Victorian Parachute Club in Pakenham, which was 13 miles closer to Melbourne and was an instructor there until the army posted him to ?

He was a driving force in the "Green Machine", an army RW Team and competed with it at the first World Championships of Relative Work Parachuting in Warrendorf, West Germany in 1975.  He was also very active in competition administration, organising the 1st World Championships in Canopy Formation and a number of Australian Parachuting Championships.

In 1981 he was elected Alternate Australian Delegate to the FAI Parachuting Commission and served in that post from 1982 until 1989.

The Centre was only a brief period in his illustrious career.

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Tony Hillman U

1968 and 197?

Centre Instructor: Tony was a product of the Centre, he started jumping at Labertouche on the 27th of November 1966 and  parachuting became his pastime and obsession.  His APF Instructor No. 146 was on the 1st of April 1970 and his Senior Instructor Rating No. 55 on the 1st of February 1971

He rose through the instructor system to Senior Instructor in record time, the minimum now allowed by the system to do this is two years.   He spent all of his recreational time involved with skydiving and the development of instructional aids and procedures. 

Tony was an active APF volunteer, he spent evenings in the APF Doveton office, was Victorian Parachute Council Secretary in the 70's and was APF Director Instructors.  

He organised the first full time APF Instructor Course in 1967 and the first APF Instructor Conference at a leading Melbourne hotel.

He took pride in the fact that he trained celebrities like Ron Barassi, Gus Mercurio and others in the art and skills of sport parachuting.  He took part in a number of television commercials and developed an interest in paragliding as well as parachuting.

Tony took up fishing and drifted away from parachuting in the late 70's.    He died of liver problems in 198?

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Centre Jumpmaster:  Bryn was an early Centre student that was on the dropzone whenever his automotive service station would allow.

He first acted as a Jumpmaster at the Centre on the 17th of August 1968.

Centre Instructor:    Denis was a member of Southern Cross Skydivers, and first jumped at Labertouche on 14th September 1965.   He took to skydiving like a fish to water and was an active jumper for ?? years.

He became an Instructor in May 1970 and held APF Instructor Rating No. 148

Denis, like many others eventually married, settled down to raise a family and was lost to skydiving.

He keeps in touch with many of the people named on this page and attends Southern Cross Skydivers' re-unions.

Centre Instructor and Relative Work Tutor:  Robin made his first jump at Packenham on the ?? and first jumped at Labertouche on the ??.    He became an instructor in February 1971 and held APF Instructor Rating No. 160.

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

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.

He spent more time as a jump pilot than as an Instructor.   An early computer analyst with his own bureau, after marrying he bought a yacht and he and Dianne sailed around the world.    On his second time around the world he got involved in the computer industry in the United States and has lived in Florida since.

Tug attended the 12th World Championships in Szolnok, Hungary, 1974 to support the Australian Team and choreographed an entertaining event at the Team Sponsor Banquet that was held in the cellars of the vineyard.   The General commanding the military forces in the area was the VIP guest and was very impressed.

Like Tug Molony, Bob put a lot of time into flying jumpers.

Bob was a tireless worker for Monash University Skydivers, the Centre and the Australian Parachute Federation.

He took part in a University "Jumpathon" making ?? jumps on one day.

Bob now flies corporate jets and might be found in some of the most distant places on the globe.

When home he lives in the south of Victoria.

He was a "Ramp Rat" at Schutt Aircraft, Moorabbin for a while and went into marketing books, which took him from Melbourne to Adelaide to Sydney and back to Melbourne.  He also packed parachutes for Commando Skydivers in 1993.

He joined the RAAF in 1994 and was stationed at East Sale, Puckapunyal, Laverton, Point Cook, HMAS Cerberus and Wagga Wagga.   His is currently a Flight Lieutenant, working in 

Peter is still passionate about flying, with an interest in vintage aircraft and gliding.   He is also active in the Salvation Army.

He returned to North Queensland and developed his own parachute training centre at Mackay.

He progressed to relative work very quickly immersing himself almost full time in skydiving and became one the Centre's leading Relative Work Tutors.

Rod never missed an opportunity to travel to other dropzones and gain wide experience in the sport.   

He was a printer but to finance his parachute team aspirations he looked for more lucrative employment.  Starting at the bottom, he quickly worked his way to the top of the private investigation field. 

Rod served the Australian Parachute Federation as Area Safety Officer in Victoria and Queensland.

He retired early and sailed his yacht to new Zealand and settled down as a citrus orchardist.    Commuting between New Zealand and Brisbane he following the whims of a jumper who enjoyed the sport to the fullest.

Rod is presently managing Ramblers Dropzone at Toogoolawah.

Centre Instructor:  Ken made his first jump with Independent Skydivers at Malalla, South Australia on the 27th August 1966.   He first jumped at Labertouche 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 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 encyclopedia.

Ken is living in Perth, Western Australia and still jumps occasionally. 

Centre Instructor:  Roy came to the Centre as a pilot, he was manager of the Royal Victorian Aero Club and like most private pilots was looking for flying hours.    He became the Centre's Chief Pilot and when he had logged 1,000 flying hours made a jump to see what it was like.   Before he left to run Meredith Parachute Club, he had more than 1,000 jumps.

He became a senior instructor and trained a large number of ab initio students.    In 19?? he went to Meredith Parachute Club as temporary chief Instructor and soon decided that he would stay there in that position.  He spent the remainder of his involvement skydiving with that club.

In the first picture on the left Roy is wearing a Hillman's Heroes T-shirt that was popular with jumpers who were trained by Tony.  In the second photo he is standing in the basket of a hot-air balloon about to make a parachute descent from the balloon over Labertouche.

Roy was always keen to jump anything and he descended from a number of different aircraft at the Centre, he jumped from all of the aircraft the Centre had to offer and from a Tiger Moth, a Glider and we think a DH-Chipmonk.

He now is retired and lives on Bribie Island, Queensland.

Centre Instructor:  Colin was appointed Chief Instructor of Labertouche Skydivers in 1975.    He continued the training policies already in place and developed a new set of student take-home documents.    He developed improved teaching methods for parachute landing falls and was very efficient in handling the considerable amount of paper work involved in parachute instruction.

Colin's smiling face and "Take the Mickey out of the colonials" attitude endeared him to his students and he was one of Labertouche's most popular instructors.

In the latter half of 1985 Claude was spending so much time each year overseas that he appointed Colin as Chief Instructor of the Centre.

Labertouche was a stepping stone for Colin to a number of positions as Chief Instructor, including: Melbourne Parachute Centre, Meredith Skydivers, Victorian Parachute Club, Bendigo Para Centre, Meredith Parachute Club, Eagle Skydivers, Commando Skydivers and a number of  important positions in the APF.   Colin also acted as "Fill-in" Chief Instructor for APF organisations left without a CPI for one reason or another. They included: The National Parachute Centre, and others.

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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Centre Instructor:  Doug first acted as an instructor on the 24th of July 1971.

He joined Southern Cross Skydivers and lived at Claude's house for some time while working as a motor mechanic.

Joe went to work in Papua as a mechanic, and played a part in the development of the sport there.  He married a local and brought her back to Australia in 1970.   

He went straight to Labertouche from the airport and worked at the Centre as a packer.   He brought his pregnant wife Marcia with him and they lived at the Centre for the first few months after arriving.   

Joe had three children, Herman, Katy and Joe and when the marriage broke down he left for overseas and worked in Hong Kong for some years.  

Later he returned to Australia with a new wife.   He lived in Tennant Creek until he died.

He eventually reached legal age to jump and he jumped on the ??/??/??.   By then he had become completely engrossed in parachute design and turned his interest in parachuting to the performance and design of deployable aerodynamic decelerators.   He worked for Parachutes Pty Ltd for some years and became friendly with its consultant Leslie? Irvin who treated him as a protégé. 

Jo opened Paradynamics and was the Centre's parachute repair specialist before he he took Ray Williams as a partner and as Paradynamics' engineer he designed the "Gilstar" canopy to Claude's parameters, marketing it as the "Argosy".

Paradynamics Pty Ltd became a medium size producer of safety equipment and para-military hardware before falling prey to delinquent big order customers and went into liquidation.

Since then, Jo has been working in powered parachutes and safety equipment and is still APF Director of Rigging. He first served in this position in 1980.     He is also a technical adviser to the Mars gravity bio-sattelite and has designed recovery parachutes for the Australian Space Research Institute.

Since his divorce he has become the typical "Man about Town" and has taken to flying motorised parachutes.

She first worked as a Jumpmaster at the Centre on the 24th of October 1976.

Ruth switched from parachuting to gliding and when last heard of had qualified for her Silver "C" Certificate.

If you read this Ruth, let us know where you are, so that we can let you know when there are Centre re-unions etc.

He first worked as an Instructor at the Centre on the 11th of December 1976.

Ray's instructional career was pushed aside by his interest in Judging.   He became an APF Judge and quickly qualified as an FAI Parachuting Judge.

When the FAI introduced the Artistic Events into World Championships, Ray was the only FAI Judge qualified to judge all FAI World Championships disciplines.

He is in demand as an Artistic Skydiving Judge and travels the world in this capacity.

Ray is at present studying business management full time.

He first worked as a Jumpmaster at the centre on the 22nd of March 1980.

The photo at left was taken during the making of a Television Commercial.

Ray became an Air Traffic Controller with the then civil aviation authority.  When last heard of he was working in West Australia.

Jenny's first jump was at the Centre with one of the University Clubs, she took easily to parachuting and spent as much time on the dropzone as her studies would allow.  

Centre 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 gained his Senior Instructor rating at the age of 21.

On loan from the Australian Parachute Federation to the Army Parachute Training School, Richard and Colin Holt enjoyed all of the fun and games available to those posted to this elite group.

Richard went on to be Chief Instructor at various Parachute Centres, as well as Victorian ASO and APF National Director of Safety.

He is also a commercial pilot and experienced jump pilot.

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

Centre Instructor:  John started as a Centre Jumpmaster in 1981 and when he became an Instructor he designed and built many improved training aids for the Centre.

John went on to become an APF Employee as 

Centre Jumpmaster:  Ian was a Centre Jumpmaster for a short time in November 1981 and again as a visiting Instructor in 1982.

He was a partner in the "National Parachute Centre" at Corowa and after a disagreement with his partner broke away and formed the "The Parachute School" at Pukapunyal on a military airfield.

He later moved "The Parachute School" to a dropzone at Euroa and after a disagreement with the Parachute Federation broke away and formed his own association.

Damien was a New Zealand jumper that first jumped at Labertouche on the 11th of December 1982 from 8,000ft.  He became a Centre Rigger.   He returned to New Zealand in 19?? and took up flying ultra-lights.  

He did his first parachute jump in NZ when he was aged 16 and eventually logged more than 3,000 jumps.

Damien married Megan Jones in the late 1980's, had a daughter Amanda Jane in 1990 and a son Andrew Michael Thomas in 1994. 

Returning to Australia in 1995, he operated three successful businesses, the last being Aviation Adrenalin Express at Point Cook RAAF base. 

Damien was tragically killed in an ultra light crash on December 19th 2002.

Centre Instructor:   Commenced Jumpmaster duties in 1981.

Malcolm Corp

Centre Jumpmaster:  Commenced Jumpmaster duties in 1981.

Centre Jumpmaster:  Commenced Jumpmaster duties in 1982.

Centre Jumpmaster:  Commenced Jumpmaster duties in 1982 and combined flying and instructing through until the Centre closed.

Centre Jumpmaster:  Commenced Jumpmaster duties in 1982.   His service was interrupted by a posting to the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and a posting to Perth two years later.

On retirement from the RAAF, he and his wife Joy spent some years touring Australia in their motor home.

During this time they turned up at the National Sport Aviation centre that Claude was developing at Wangaratta and seeing how Claude was carrying a heavy load, they helped out for a few months and then offered to give Claude and Candy a break for a while.   Claude combined four overseas commitments into one, took Candy with him for eight weeks and came back refreshed but Ken and Joy insisted that he spend a bit of time in his Endeavour Hills home making visits to help out at Wangaratta occasionally.   Only leaving when the Victorian weather became too cold for them.   Now that's what you call support.

Centre Instructor:   Frank's first jump was at Labertouche on the 20th January 1980. He became a Centre instructor and went on to take over a parachuting operation in Corowa, NSW.

Greg first jumped at Labertouche in March 1981, he first acted as a Centre Jumpmaster on November 20th 1982.

Centre Instructor:   

Centre Jumpmaster:  Ross first jumped at Labertouche on ??/??/??, first acted as a Jumpmaster on the 14th of November 1982 and was very active throughout 1983 as both Jumpmaster and Pilot.

Centre Jumpmaster:  John came for a long visit to Australia from the United Kingdom where he was Top POP.   He did the local legislation exam had his BPA Instructor Rating recognised by the APF and was a Jumpmaster at the Centre until he returned to England.

POPS (Parachutists Over Phorty Society) is an organisation that started in the USA in 197? and has spread throughout the world.   It holds World Championships biennially and many national POPS hold national championships and social meets.    The secretary of each nation's POPS Chapter is always referred to as that country's "Top Pop"        

VISITING INSTRUCTORS

Visiting Instructor:    Tony acted as an Instructor at the Centre in 1967

Visiting Instructor:    Jim acted as an Instructor at the Centre in 1968