Macarthur 'Mac' Job

[Philthy]

Sad to report that renowned air safety writer and true gentleman Macarthur 'Mac' Job passed away this afternoon, Wednesday 6 August 2014. Mac had been battling cancer for several years.

I visited him a bit over a week ago and he was quite philosophical about what was to come. He was not in pain or suffering, although feeling very tired.

There is a biography of Mac on the CAHS & Airways Museum website - Airways Museum / Civil Aviation Historical Society (http://www.airwaysmuseum.com)

Goodbye Mac - you will be greatly missed!

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l158/Philthy88/Mac-Job-24-10-12-MA_zpscfcecd84.jpg

Mac holding a model of the Southern Cloud, 24 October 2012.

(Photo: Maurice Austin)

[Frank Arouet]

Irreplaceable talent and nobody to fill the void.


Makes all my "crash comics" somehow special and priceless.


farewell mentor.

[Wally Mk2]

Damn, what a shame, we will all be the lessor for this mans passing but he will not be forgotten his legacy lives on in us old codgers.:-(

See you on the other side 'Mac'

Wmk2

[004wercras]

Absolute travesty and it came far too soon. An intelligent and analytical man who left a positive mark on our industry. With his passing, aviation becomes a poorer place.

R.I.P

[Pinky the pilot]

Twas inevitable, as is to us all but nevertheless..

:{:sad::{:sad:

Goodbye Mac Job. You will be missed in Australian Aviation, far far more than you would have ever realised.

Makes all my "crash comics" somehow special and priceless.


They always were, but now even more so!

[gerry111]

Vale, Mac Job.


I will forever wonder how many private pilots would not be alive today, were it not for learning valuable aviation lessons from you.


RIP.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Sad news indeed......To 'The Man', to whom 'our' generation will ever be grateful....
Glad he had a 'peaceful' journey.
Griffo

[tail wheel]

The passing of another Australian aviation icon to whom many of owe a vote of thanks.

Sad news indeed.

[Kharon]

Never had the pleasure of meeting him; but through his advice in the 'crash comic' he saved my sorry arse and various other body parts, I feel I owe him a great, unpaid debt. Too late now, I regret.

Safe journey, to a guaranteed job in heaven; very few of the angels have a blind clue about airmanship, carby ice, crosswinds, scud running, weather wisdom and all the other extraneous bits and pieces you taught us. Nice to think of Mac Job schooling a bunch of newly winged innocents.

Farewell and thank you.

[criticalmass]

One of my favourite aviation authors. A huge loss to aviation, not just in Australia, but world-wide. RIP. :(

[kaz3g]

Wishing you Blue Skies, Mac, and No Dud Landings!

Kaz

[seafire6b]

Simply a brilliant guy, a great loss. A great technician and author, he'll be long remembered and respected.

[rjtjrt]

A great man, with an enduring legacy.
Now even more this should give added impetus to digitise the whole of the Aviation Safety Digest for posterity.

[Wanderin_dave]

I have read everything of Mac's I could get my hands on. I'm sure his lessons have kept me alive, whether I was aware of the fact, or not. I had the good fortune to shake his hand once, Oz aviation owes him a great deal.

Thanks Mac.

[Marvin Martian]

What a legend... timeless words of wisdom over so many years indeed...
Fair skies now....

[tipsy2]

The man was an absolute gem of a person.

His legacy is a couple of generations of old pilots that can truly say "Thank heavens we listened to him and took notice"

This one hopes that one day the ASD's will be reprinted and distributed to the new bunch of hopefuls before aviation rises up and "smites thee"

Thanks Mac.

A sad Tipsy

[D'pirate]

Sad day for aviation, he has left us all a great legacy

[StallsandSpins]

So sad to hear this, i have many fond memories of Mac and had the pleasure of flying with him many times as kid in UUL. A first class gentleman who contributed a great deal to aviation in Australia and air safety world wide.
you will be missed alot.

could someone pm me the funeral details when they are known?

[pcc]

I had the privilege to know him over these last 5 years and his beloved wife Esma and even built a basic flight simulator for him to practice on.

In his later years he enjoyed a wonderful life in Olinda up on Mt Dandenong and I know many people will miss his wealth of experience and that amazing ability he had to write so descriptively.

I have all his books and he will live with me, via his written word, for the rest of my life.

Thanks Mac for just being you!

[Philthy]

Mac's funeral will be held at 1pm Tuesday, 12 August 2014 at St Matthew's Anglican Church, Monash Avenue, Olinda.

[sms777]

Another sad day, another legend lost. I had the pleasure of sitting across the isle with Mac in the good old Goony bird VH-SBL piloted by another legend Capt. Jack Curtis on our way to Launceston for the Air race back in the '90s.
I had the most enjoyable conversation with Mac on the way. What a knowledgable true gentleman he was.
I will be dusting off all the books written by him in my collection and read them all again for his memory.
Farewell Mac and thank you for your wisdom......:{

[Fantome]

In the 2003 Queen's Birthday honours, Mac was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "for services to the promotion of aviation safety".

NEVER WAS GONG MORE DESERVED

The only comparable contributor to Mac to the specific literature of the hands-on, practical side of civil aviation in Australia, as in lessons to be learned and the roots of the systems from which we today derive a large part of our safety consciousness, was the late highly esteemed, Don Charlwood. Mac and Don, (good friends), shared a rare facility as authors, both with a brilliant flare to capture the essence, the very nub of their concern for contributing to the priceless store of knowledge and experience in fields they devoted such a large part of their lives to.

Shortly before he passed on, Mac donated his research notes, photographs and aviation library to the Civil Aviation Historical Society,at Essendon Airport.

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Never met him but I have grown up with his insight into the safe operation of aeroplanes. Mac Job had a no nonsense method of cutting through to the real issue. I and my cohort lived by the mantra.."never do anything that could end up in the pages of the crash comic." Indeed, we and I devoured everything Mac wrote and learnt on the error of others lest we committed the same act.

Mac Job is the giant...Australia's aviators orbited the shoulders of a great man.

...cleared to beyond, track direct to the light...safe journey, old man.

[Dog One]

RIP Mac Job.

[minniethemoocher]

RIP to a marvellous man.

As part of his legacy, someone should organise for all the old crash comics to be scanned in and available over the web, or is this being done?

[trashie]

Rest peacefully Mac, you were a true gentleman and made a truly great contribution to the safety of aviation in Australia. You will be forever missed.

[Al E. Vator]

It seems like aviation has three types of people:

There are the big 'noises'. The egos who ladder-climb for the kudos. They are the countless CEO's, GM's and the like, more common these days, who merely use aviation as a conduit for their own ends and rarely have a passion for it.

Then there's probably what comprises the bulk of us..those who love aviation, try to earn an income from it, try to give a little back but are kinda just the silent majority.

Finally there are those whose input far exceeded what they have taken from Aviation. Mac Job was one of these.

I remember reading crash comics as a kid and this name Macarthur Job just kept cropping-up year after year. When I got into aviation he was still writing and just last month I downloaded the Flight Safety on my iPad and read "A Dragon's Last Flight" by Mac Job.

An outstanding proponent of common sense and level-headedness in the cockpit (needed now more than ever: what must he have made of the 777 at SFO?).

Good travels Mr Job.

[eternity]

Through his articles and books, he was able to impart so much knowledge, education and wisdom to so many throughout the industry.

Including myself, the amount of young inexperienced aviators and their passengers that have been saved from his 'crash comics'......I dare only think.


Blue skies & Tailwinds.........



Eternity.

[aroa]

gerry 111 I'm one ..arkse still intact after all those early years devouring ASD and the sage advice of Mac. Read and digest the Digest...less the earth smite thee...wrongly.
What a great educator !:D:D

Has he been nominated for The Australian Aviation Hall of Fame? If not he should be.:ok:

Go safely into the wild blue BIG Mac..!

[Mish A]

I first met Mac in 2010. 12 months before I started flight training. As it was Mac’s style he was more interested in what I was doing. He didn’t mention anything about being involved in aviation. I must admit at the time I didn’t know anything about Mac’s status in the Australian Aviation Industry. It was only a heads up from a mutual friend and a bit of research led me to realising what his contribution was. I felt a bit silly especially as I’d brought a couple of Mac’s books 14 years before I’d even met Mac.

Whilst waiting to begin flight training Mac invited me to a couple of Aviation Historical Society of Australia meetings in Hawthorn East. I remember one night coming back so late that I got into a bit of trouble at home. My wife didn’t comprehend that I’d be out until after 1 am, being driven around Melbourne by an 86 yr old!

It was a privilege to spend time with Mac and his lovely wife Esma. Those 2 were a treasure. I can still remember after talking aviation with Mac that Esma would sigh and say, “Aviation is a disease that they never get over.” I recall fondly Mac’s special way that he was able to utilise the English language, a true master of the spoken and written word.

I last saw Mac in the middle of 2012 before we went back inter-state. It was sad leaving. I do know that Mac had a strong faith and he was content in knowing where he was going after he departed this life.

I considered Mac a mentor, not so much in my aviation training but in the important stuff like how to relate to the people around you and how to get the most out of life. We caught up a couple of times on the phone since we left. I remember one of the last times a while ago now where he told me that he’d just come back from the gym!

Sadly I’m unable to attend Mac’s funeral tomorrow at St Matthews. I expect that it can only be a celebration of a life well lived.

Farewell Mac, you were a friend, mentor and a true gentleman. We will miss you and I will try to ensure that what you taught me will be carried out and passed onto the next generation.

Onwards and upwards
Mish A

[beer bong]

Vale

A brilliant author dedicated to aviation safety.

[Kabwum balus]

Yes, Mac Job was a true gentleman and realist.

Mac trained me on the DH84 Dragon at Point Cook in 1976 and then 20 years later at the same location checked me out on the Miles M.3A Falcon.

His vast flying time on the Dragon gave him a special insight into the bird, which had a poor safety record due to its very low power and subsequent nil single engine performance. Properly managed, a safe return to land on one was still possible as Mac had achieved on occasions.

Rest in peace Mac.

[ramp_boy]

RIP Mac. A true gentleman. I came across his amazing books as a youngster who was interested in aviation at the local newsagents. 'Air crash' and 'Air disaster' are such good reads. I used to save up all my paper round dollars to buy those as a little tacker. Later I used to ride my bike to the local airport for a looksee and whilst pestering the flight instructors with questions and waiting around ogling at cessnas and pipers, I ran into the excellent 'crash comics'. I used to scour the various flying schools and aero clubs for them so I could stuff them down my jumper and cheese it out of there. Later again during flight training, I came across an old ragged copy of 'the old and the bold' at an old secondhand book store. What a great collection of war stories what was! And later still after my training was complete I managed to have a chat with him down at the local airport.. a week before I packed up to head north for my first gig. He had some wonderful sage advice for me. To this day i'll thumb through his wonderful books and find something new in there. The man was a treasure.

[HarleyD]

Blue skies and tail winds Mac. It w as an honour to have known you.

[Scion]

Thank you Mac for your kindness and patience with myself and the advice you gave.

You have left this earth a better place.