Vale Steve Robards "ozzie"

[David Isaac]

I was extremely saddened to learn yesterday that Steve Robards “ozzie” on Rec Flying passed away after a long illness. He will be sadly missed.

 

 

I met Steve a few years ago in 2009 when I got back into ultralights. He was one of the pioneers in the Ultralight movement and many of you here would have known him.

 

He contracted a bizarre lung disease (I think it was) and he became increasingly debilitated by it.

 

Much of what we have today in Recreational Aviation is thanks to Steve and many like him who pioneered the sport. I know that Steve had a hand in the manufacture of the Thruster Glasshouse (Dexter Burkill has one). He was a man who loved to practise meat bombing and is well known in APF circles.

 

I will certainly miss his banter here on FB and personally. He was a very nice interactive dude. Rest in peace my friend.

 

Here is part of a post on his FB page with regards to his final send off. I won’t be able to make it as I will be in Perth

 

"Shortly before Steve passed away I asked him how he wanted us to send him off. His reply was "well I suppose we'll have to do an ashes jump but I wouldn't mind being shot out of a mortar". So in keeping with Steve's last wishes the plan is to do an ashes jump on Sat 1st Oct at Elderslie then shortly after sunset there will be a small fireworks display and you guessed it, Steve will be riding the last big shot into the atmosphere. I will be doing a letter box drop this weekend to near by houses to let them know what we are planning and why. The fireworks company told us this is required. As long as there are no objections from the locals it should go ahead as planned. Stay tuned. By the way If you love aviation go to Steve's FB page and check out his Photos. Hundreds of fantastic aviation photos as well as pics of old friends, skydiving, hang gliding, ultralights and more. See them through Steve's eyes, as he saw it. Totally worth your time". by Steve Dines

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I am shocked to hear that David...He was on here not that long ago. RIP Ozzie

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

So sad to hear of his passing. I treasured his posts over years and will miss him. RIP - fly free.

 

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Really saddened to hear this. I met Steve a couple of times back in the 1980s and he was a very memorable fella full of enthusiasm for everything to do with aviation, and certainly one of the active pioneers of the ultralight fraternity.

 

RIP Steve.

 

 

[dazza 38]

RIP mate. Steve passed away on or around the 27 th of August. There's information on his send off on his facebook page which is still active.

 

Many thanks to Steve Dines for contributing to his page with information.

 

 

[Robbo]

Sh*t...

 

I was only thinking a week or so ago that ozzie had not be posting for a while and was nearly going to send a pm.

 

R.I.P mate, enjoyed the stories via numerous PM's... mainly about base jumping and sky diving.

 

I was nearly going to PM him and get his opinion on a post someone started about "do wing suit flyer's have a death wish". Sadly, if I did my PM would go unanswered.

 

Keep safe people, and keep up with the doctors appointments.

 

 

[facthunter]

Yes , very sad. He operated in the same area I trained. A dropped some of the people he probably knew, but I don't think he was active till after I moved from the area. We did some crazy things at times, back then. Loved his input on this site. All belongs to another time, and era. RIP ol mate. Nev