Learn to Skydive - About Ramblers
Back in 1966 Bob Morrison was the original Rambler. He trained up Instructor Dave
McEvoy in the late 60s. Dave carried the Ramblers torch and founded Ramblers Parachute
Centre in 1974. He also founded the first successful parachuting magazine in Australia
‘Rambling On’, specifically to communicate with the jumpers nationwide.
In 1979 Dave purchased the land at Toogoolawah and built the drop zone from
scratch. In the same year Ramblers was the first organisation in the world to
use modern sport parachute equipment for student use. In 1982 Ramblers was the
first organisation in Queensland to adopt the Accelerated Freefall (AFF) method
of student training.
During the 80s Ramblers Drop Zone was the host of two international skydiving
competitions, the South Pacific Championships and the World Cup of Canopy Relative
Work. In the late 80s the drop zone hosted three consecutive Australian National
Skydiving Championships.
In the early 90s Ramblers was the first operation in Australia to use the Tandem
Assist (TAF) method of training students. In 1994 the drop zone hosted the first
of many successful international parachuting conventions called the Equinox
Boogie. The Equinox Boogie is regarded as Australia’s premier international
skydiving event.
At the turn of the Century, the new Millenium, the Australian National Skydiving
Championships were again hosted at Toogoolawah and were held there for another
two consecutive years.
Over the past 30 years, Ramblers has grown to become a family-run organisation giving countless people skydiving lessons.
Dave’s sister Karen continues her 5,000 jump career as an Instructor,
her daughter Deb is a full-time instructor, cameraflyer and coach at Toogoolawah
drop zone with 2,000 jumps, while Dave’s daughter Susie, also an Instructor
of over 1,700 jumps has taken the magazine “Rambling On’ into
the next millennium and publishes ‘ASM – the Australian Skydiver
Magazine’ for the National Membership. Dave’s nephew Junior is
also a full-time cameraflyer who travels around the drop zones in search of
work and fun! The photo here was a milestone moment when six McEvoy’s
took to the skies together!
Ramblers is the longest running and most experienced skydiving institution
in Queensland. To this day Ramblers continues to grow and reach new heights
in the Sport and in the Industry. Ramblers is undoubtedly Australia’s
most progressive parachuting and tandem skydiving organisation – a leader that
has set the standard for other drop zones to aspire to.
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