Don Cross - Chief Instructor, AFF Instructor, Tandem Master, Pilot and Drop Zone Operator
Since doing his first jump in 1985, Don Cross has achieved much in the sport of skydiving. Of note, he was awarded the AUSTRALIAN SPORTS MEDAL 2000 by the Prime Minister Mr John Howard, and the Governor General Sir William Dean.
Don has achieved over 10,000 skydives in his career and when he isn’t jumping out of planes you’ll find him flying them. You just can’t keep his feet on the ground.
In 1999 he was awarded the Diploma of Excellence in Formation Skydiving from the Federal Aeronautique Internationale – the International Skydiving Federation. His 8 Way team still holds the Australian Record for the maximum number of formations scored, a record made at the World Championships in 1999.
A veteran of competition Don has won 8 National Skydiving Championships in his time, the most recent being 2007. In 2008 Don became a World Champion by representing Australia in Formation Skydiving in a veterans event for parachutists over 40 years of age.
After 20 years of continuous service and over 1000 military jumps in the Australian ARMY Don still maintains his ties, as a Reservist, by providing parachute instruction when required. Don is also a highly qualified Coach and Instructor with an Associate Diploma in Vocational Training.
Louise Cross - AFF Instructor, Drop Zone Safety Officer and Drop Zone Operator
Louise has completed 1500 jumps since 1987. She has been an active instructor at several drop zones, and came to Victoria with Don Cross to run Skydive Nagambie.
Louise has been competing at State and National Level since the beginning of her skydiving career, and was a member of Australia's largest women's freefall formations in 1990 and 1992. She was also a member of the largest mixed freefall formation in the country in 1993. After just 3 years of skydiving, Louise became the Victorian Intermediate runner up State Champion!
Since 1991, she has focused on teaching and coaching others in the sport of skydiving. With her impeccable safety record, Louise is also the Drop Zone Safety Operator for all disciplines. With the friendliest manner on the microphone, you will find Louise at manifest most weekends, getting people organised to get in the plane and go jumping!
1991 - APF AFF Instructor
1994 - Level 2 Coaching Accreditation
1997 - Instructor B Rating
2000 - Drop Zone Safety Officer (all disciplines)
2000 - Australian Canopy Relative Work Crest
Lee Barton - Tandem Instructor, AFF Instructor
Lee has been jumping since 1989 when he did his first static line jump at Corowa and has since clocked up over 1600 jumps. Lee gained his Instructor rating in 2000 and loves taking people for their first skydive experience whether it be AFF or Tandem.
He enjoys many aspects of skydiving including RW and video but doesn’t get time to attend to them as much these days due to parental and work commitments. Lee’s present goals are to keep on pulling drogues until his wonderful daughter is old enough to do a tandem and to get into some big way formations and CRW.
When he’s not skydiving you can find Lee chasing crooks on his jetski. Water Rats eat ya heart out!
Steph Bensley - AFF Instructor, Formation Skydiving Champion
Steph started skydiving at the age of 16 and now has over 2500 jumps. She participated in the 81 way Australian record in 1999, and completed her AFF Instructor rating in 2000.
Steph has spent a lot of time jumping at various locations in the States, building up skills and has competed in teams around Australia. Most recently Steph competed at the World champs in France with her team Snatch Force.
Carsten Boeving - AFF Instructor, Brel Tutor, 8-way Champ!
Carsten has been jumping for 5 years, enjoying 4-way and 8-way competitions around Australia. He loves to compete in skydiving teams - he continually professes, "the camaraderie experienced in a good team is not matched by anything!"
Carsten loves introducing AFF students into the world of skydiving, and hopes to convert all of them into 4-way champions.
Timmy "Kiwi" Buhler - Packer, Camera Boy, Maintenance and Office Mule
Timmy has been jumping for 4 years and is absolutely loving it. At 800 jumps his energy and enthusiasm is infectious and regularly gets the jumpers excited! He has gained his tandem rating and plans to further pursue his full-time jumping career.
Damien Cassidy - Cameraman, HDBD CI, DZ Sparky & life and soul of the party!
You are looking at a legend ladies and gentlemen. Founding father of the Head Down Drinking Association, member of the infamous "Dee Gang" and ASO nemesis; Damo has been a Naggas regular for the last 12 months and our livers have never been the same since.
Fresh back from a trip to the tunnel at Eloy, you will alway find Damo gagging for a freefly jump.
Our newest and most enthusiastic camera flyer, his grin will be as big as yours when he captures your jump!
Andrew Daniels - IB , AFF, Tandem
Ever since 'Danny' Daniel's first leap, jumping has been his drug of choice (apart from a few quite beers after a good days jumping). For Danny, the initial adrenalin rush of throwing yourself out of a plane has changed to either the rush of competition, the joy of the constant new experiences/places/sights and the satisfaction and pleasure of introducing new people to 'our world'.
He can't name any one jump as the best (they are all good) but the rush/experience and awe of exiting between smoking volcanoes in Indonesia, jumping over the ocean off Thailand, seeing Kangaroo Valley full of fog; looking like a big bowl of milk cascading over the lip of the escarpment, night jumps into the Royal Easter Show, jumping into the National Stadium in Singapore (flying beside (below) skyscrapers and hearing 80000 people all screaming at once), demos into Adelaide GP, Phillip Island 500 GP, etc are but some of the memorable ones. However, really even the simple satisfaction/pleasure of sharing in the high of a first jumpers buzz is what keeps Danny, and all of us coming back.
So 23 years, 4000+ jumps (900 Military) and a lot of life later the young, dumb fellow nervously approaching the Cessna C180 aircraft for his first jump with a round parachute on his back and a reserve on his chest, is now a older, greyer bloke (with more modern gear) but inside....... nothing has really changed at all.
Kim Foster - AKA Skud - Tandem Master, AFF instructor
The party boy of the drop zone, Skud has 4000 jumps as a tandem Master and an AFF instructor. On his way there, he has been part of the world record nudie way attempt. A serious skydiver, Skud is the drop zone load pig. When not jumping, you will find him at the Karaoke machine blaring out Brittany Spears tunes to the dismay of the local Nagambie community or chasing people around the DZ with glow sticks... yes Skuddy, "it's all about the sticks!"
Jill Grantham - Manifest, Freefly Champion
Jill has been involved in all the facets of the sport. From freeflying, CRW (Canopy Relative Work), skysurfing to manifesting and packing. She has spent time in Arizona working on her skills in the wind tunnel. She hopes to start a freefly team with one of the DZ's resident orphans some day, whilst still maintaining her skillfully refined manifesting abilities.
Darren Griggs - BMI (Birdman Instructor), Cameraman
Darren has accumulated over 1600 jumps in his skydiving career and enjoys 4-way skydiving, wingsuit flocking and loves his tunnel time. One of Griggsy’s skydiving highlights was completing a 3 point 36 way formation at Skydive Chicago. When not in the air you’ll find him running canopy courses or planning his next swoop.
Marty Hanley - Tandem Master
Marty is no stranger to the sky. He has been leaping from planes for over 20 years now and has written 6 books on skydiving. Cheque books that is!
Marty has just returned from Europe where he was working as a Tandem Master. When not jumping, Marty can often be seen overhead in his microlight.
Neil Hobbs - Tandem Instructor, AFF Instructor
Hobbsy began his jumping in Corowa in 1995 and has never looked back.
Clocking up over 1700 jumps right here in Oz, superior NZ and the U.S.A.
Neil’s favourite jumps include experiencing freefall as the world ticked over into the new millennium, cranking out 30 jumps on his 30th birthday, a sunset 4-way over Vegas and taking his boss Sgt Peter Law for a tandem jump, raising $5’000 for the Police Blue Ribbon Foundation in the process!
Officer Hobbs is a swoop-n-chug expert but has never forgiven Gerome for knocking him off in the ’04 Chug Off on the DZ ute. Watch your back Gerome!
Neil reckons the best things about jumping are introducing people to the sport through tandems and feeding off their adrenaline as well as his own, and hearing the bell ring at the end of a hard days jumping!
Mark Hogan - Pilot, Samoan Jandal Fight Champion.
Mark came recommended to us by the infamous Meggsy Lappin so we knew he would fit in well with the crowd here at Nagambie.
A budding aerobatic pilot Mark has taken over the reins of Don’s beloved EFY and specialises in early morning hop-n-pops and mid-week jumping. When not flying you’ll find Mark at the gym working on his massive calves and honing his lethal Jandal Fighting technique.
Alex "Dipsy" Kaiserman - Cameraman / Tandem Instructor
After completing his AFF at Skydive Nagambie, "Dipsy" has gone on to skydive and compete around Australia and internationally performing 900 jumps to date.
An avid CReW dog he held the first record for 2 way canopy formation as a winner of the Australian Nationals, going on to reprezent Australia at the World Meet in Russia. More recently he was part of the record breaking Australian 36-way CReW diamond.
Dipsy has joined the swelling ranks of Tandem Instructors with the aim of giving up his high stress business lifestyle to become a nomadic drouge throwing gypsie.
Lets go on a mission Dipsy!
Warren "The Silver Fox" Keogh - Tandem Master, Freeflyer!
Wokka as we also like to call him has been jumping for over 10 years and has accumulated over 1500 jumps. He loves to freefly and takes particular pride in showing Tandem students their first ever jump.
His notable feats include "honche flying", which is a new form of freeflying on one's "honches", and of course the well known "shimmy carve". A two time National Open Freefly silver medalist and ace chopper pilot, is there nothing this man can't do??
Wokka's biggest enjoyment? Tucking into a well earned Caramello Koala after a hard days jumping.
John Kinton - AFF & S/L Instructor, Instructor ’B’
John Kinton is living proof that age is no barrier in the sport of skydiving. John began his skydiving career in 1989 and has clocked up over 1300 jumps. A keen POP’s (Parachutists Over Phorty) member, John has participated in 7 World POP’s Meets and jumped in many countries including Jordan, Switzerland, the USA, Spain, England, Canada and NZ.
You can often find John in the classroom taking Newbies through their AFF Course’s or discussing the merits of red wine with Greasy Greg.
Although on the surface he appears to be a grumpy prick we assure you he is really a big softie.
Jason Lane - AFF / Tandem Instructor, DZ Bum
Jason did his first jump with Ray Palmer over Coolangatta in April of 1994. The bug bit hard and Jason has now amassed over 650 skydives.
Jason's favourite jump was the one he just did with you, but is often seen skywards with his partner in free-fly and wife Tracey.
Tracey and Jason met at Batchelor on their first jump course and have been jumping each other ever since.
Jason managed a highly desirable posting to sunny Puckapunyal in January so has made Nagambie his DZ of choice for the next few years.
He makes a mean cuppa too!
Mitch McMartin - AFF instructor, Camera Flyer
Mitch is another one of our resident Camera Flyers who has over 4000 jumps. His favourite discipline of skydiving is canopy formation “CRW” and taking that perfect photo!
He has represented Australia at a number of world meets and successfully competed in various National and State Championships. His best jump was being involved in the World Record 100 way CReW formation in the States in 2007.
Mitch is also a teacher of Aerial Photography… yes Master.
Lookout girls, he is known to be a bit of a ladies man.
Patrick Nygren - Tandem Master, Videographer, National Team Cameraman (Sweden & Australia)
Our very own Swedish meatball, Patrick has clocked over 7000 skydives in a distinguished skydiving career. He has competed in 4 World Championships, most recently with the Australian 8-way team in Germany. He has just returned to a full time instructor position here at Skydive Nagambie.
Welcome back Swede!
Emma Pearce - Packer, Camera Girl, Office Mule
Emma "Innit" Pearce has been jumping for over 2 years in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, clocking up over 200 jumps. She loves hanging off the doors of Cessna 182s and has a habit of losing shoes in freefall. Her latest escapade involved wingsuiting over the lakes of Nagambie at our latest ABC Camp.
Em hopes to gain her AFF rating and jump for many years to come!
Warrick "Wok" Smith - AFF Instructor
Warrick (or Wok as he’s known) has been jumping since 1996 and has clocked up over 1100 jumps. A keen Rel-Worker, Wok has accumulated several gold medals in a distinguished skydiving carreer.
Wokk attained his Instructor Rating in 2007 in order to spread his love of skydiving. Don’t be scared of Wok, he’s not angry just passionate!
Shannon Straubinger - AFF Instructor, RW Tutor, TV Personality
Shanno has been jumping for 6 years and has recently become a Nagger's local. Over this time he has clocked up almost 1500 jumps and has competed in and been successful at numerous State and National Championships in both 4 way and 8 way events.
He is passionate and enthusiastic about the development of students from their first jump onwards. This and his superior airskills has led to one fine AFF instructor.
Shanno loves checking out the world from 4,000ft under canopy whilst admiring a nice sunset. When he's not turning points at 14000', you can find him at the bar chatting about jumping over a couple of cold beers. Well done for recently acquiring your bobcat licence mate!
Craig Vaughan - AFF Instructor, Instructor B, Formation Skydiving Champion and Coach.
Craig started jumping in 1991 and has since accumulated over 4000 jumps. His achievements include representing Australia in 8 way Formation Skydiving at the 2004 World Championships in Croatia and has recently returned from representing Australia with 8 way team ‘Deton8’ in the 2006 World Meet in Germany, as well as coming 2nd at the Nationals Meet in 2005 in 4 way formation skydiving.
More recently Craig's team convincingly won the Victorian State Championships with his 4-way team, "C4". The team went on to place second at the 2008 National Championships.
A keen instructor Craig actively runs First Jump Courses for our newbies and acts as the Drop Zone Safety Officer on occasion.
Clayton Werner - Tandem Master, Freefly Extraordinaire
Clayton has been jumping for over 10 years in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia - clocking up over 1500 jumps. He loves freeflying and can't say no to a 2-way headdown jump at Sunset after a hard day's work.
He gained his Tandem rating with Wokka and the two have since been the resident jump pigs at Naggers!
Clayton is heading to the Tunnel in Eloy later this year to further perfect his flying.
Michael Wildniech - Packer A, Cameraman, AFF Instructor, Tandem Instructor
Michael started jumping in 2005 and since then has notched up over 1000 jumps. He has jumped at drop zones in Temora, Bridgewater, Torquay, Perris Valley USA and New Zealand. Truely an international veteran!
Michael has recently acquired his Tandem rating and now plans to study for his Instructor 'B' rating.
Michael also maintains the student and tandem equipment here at the drop zone. When he isnt jumping out of planes he's making sure our gear is in "tip-top" condition.
Kim Williamson - AFF Instructor, Brel Tutor, Drop Zone Mum
Kim started jumping in October, 1998, and has since become the mum of Skydive Nagambie - looking after the Drop Zone orphans. Many delicious dinners and sweet wines after memorable skydives!
Kim's favourite jump was her 100th in Empuriabrava, Spain, and has continued jumping in many parts of the world. She was on the Australian 47-way Female Formation Record in 2003 and a part of the latest Victorian 8-way team, but more than anything, Kim loves teaching students and guiding them through the sport we love so much. A passionate AFF instructor, and all round great gal Kim recently achieved 1000 jumps! Congratulations Kimmy.
Mike Williamson - AFF instructor, Tandem Master, Rigger
Mikey has clocked over 1000 jumps in his time skydiving. He has competed at the Victorian Championships in the intermediate 4-way competition and has recently returned from Europe, being involved in the Irish Nationals record attempt.
An avid AFF instructor and Tandem Master, he is Nagambie’s resident rigger and gear maintainer, keeping us all safe in the air. Mike is married to fellow jumper Kim Williamson AKA ‘Mum’, who does a mighty fine job looking after everyone at the Drop Zone, including the occasional meal cooked for the gang on a Saturday night. What a team!
Mike hopes to compete at a World Meet, and is prepared to take anyone on who thinks they can beat him in Fooz.
Greasy Greg - Purveyor of fine culinary delights
Harden your arteries boys and girls! Greg has been catering for skydivers for 10 years. At one jump, his knowledge and dedication to the sport is huge due to the many drinks shared with skydivers around the bar.
He aspires to start his own home cooking show at the drop zone. Look out Jamie Oliver!
