Farewell Wedgetail Leader
Within minutes of meeting Bob Irvine for the first time you knew you’d met a larger-than-life bloke; one of those rare people that embraced their life and was proud of most of the things they’d done. You could tell by the way he told stories.
Bob Irvine died last night after fighting cancer. His loss will be felt by everyone at Lilydale Flying School and Lilydale Flying Club, but most of all by his family and his partner Lou (Linda).
He might have been your flying instructor. He might have been your formation leader. He might have been someone you encountered on a taxiway somewhere. No matter who he was to you, you were something to him.
Bob was an aviator from a long way back, the early 1970s to be precise. His involvement in aviation started in Wagga Wagga in 1965 at the RAAF School of Technical Training (RSTT). Bob was an airframe engineer, a course he chose because it gave him a wider involvement with the whole aircraft than a more specialised field such as a sumpie (engines) a gunny (armourer) or an avionics engineer.
From the beginning, Bob wanted to fly. He befriended the Knuckleheads (pilots), a natural thing for him, and got rides in everything from Neptunes to Canberras, “Goonies” (Dakotas) and most proudly of all, Mirages. He’d be quite happy to share these experiences over a beer anytime you asked.
Same for Butterworth. It was during his first tour at Butterworth that he completed his PPL at the Penang Flying Club. He always thought that put him in the good books with the Knuckleheads and scored him a lot of rides. In those days, the Vietnam War had Butterworth in a war zone and Bob was ready to go with the rest of 75 Sqn. They were never called; but they were always ready.
His 20 years in blue included time with the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) at Laverton/Avalon, with some deployments to Woomera, 3 Sqn back in Butterworth and his final posting to 482 Sqn (Maintenance) at Amberley. There he found trouble. 482 was an F-111 squadron and Bob got involved with the fuel tank deseal/reseal project. Flt. Sgt Irvine wanted protective equipment for him and his team. It had him marked as a trouble-maker when the RAAF refused and ordered the men into the tanks. A later inquiry confirmed that the chemicals used were the cause of many cancers among the team. Disillusioned, Bob put in for his discharge after 20 years.
Of course, Bob’s built-in trademark was his booming radio voice. Honed at the Butterworth radio station, he later put it to good use as an auctioneer in Brisbane and PA announcer at the Lilydale air show. He was the voice of Lilydale Flying Club on many occasions. The man could speak.
He could also fly and teach flying. Bob mentored and nurtured plenty of students, always eager to that his charges should absorb his decades of experience. Even if you weren’t on his books, he had time for you. He was chosen to lead LFC’s formation team The Wedgetails and was a regular at every fly-away or day trip he could get to. If there was an LFC event on and Bob wasn’t there, something just seemed wrong.
Bob dove in and bought an aeroplane later in life: C177 Cardinal VH-DZP “Dizzy”. Having Dizzy enhanced his aviation career and with partner Lou they covered plenty of Australia. Bob would proudly tell people later how much of the flying Lou actually did. When Dizzy made the front cover of Australian Flying he positively glowed.
It’s not enough to say that Bob will be missed. LFC and the GA community is much worse off without him. It is people of his like that made general aviation worth being involved in.
LFC’s thoughts are with his family and his partner Lou, who will always be a part of the LFC family.
Goodbye Wedgetail Leader … and thank you for showing so many the way.