Former head of parachute company dies at 85

[mdowling 0]

Former head of parachute company dies at 85

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The former head of a parachute manufacturing company whose canopies helped save the lives of thousands of airmen has died.
Richard Switlik Sr. was 85. His son said the cause of his death was not clear, but that his father suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
Switlik was for years the president of Switlik Parachute Co. in Trenton. The company had been founded under a different name in 1920 by his father, Stanley Switlik.
Stanley Switlik in 1934 teamed with Amelia Earhart’s husband to build a 115-foot tower on Switlik’s Ocean County farm to train airmen in parachute jumping. Earhart made the first public jump from the tower in 1935, according to the company’s Web site.
Richard Switlik Sr. was the first to leap from the tower to make sure it was safe, said his son, Richard Switlik Jr.
“He was a remarkable guy who wasn’t afraid to do anything,” Switlik Jr. said.
As World War II approached, Switlik Parachute made about 2,500 parachutes each week, Switlik Jr. said. The company estimated that some 5,000 airmen were saved during the war by Switlik parachutes.
According to company lore, one of them was a Navy pilot named George H.W. Bush, who bailed out when his plane was damaged over the Pacific, and later was to become the 41st president of the United States.
“When you think of the number of lives that were saved because of his designs and his efforts, it’s a great accomplishment,” Switlik Jr. said.
Bush used a Switlik canopy when he made a parachute jump on his 75th birthday. The former president plans another jump this weekend, on his 80th birthday.
After the war, Switlik Sr. oversaw the company’s expansion from parachute making to production of life vests, life rafts and other survival gear.
Switlik Sr. was a 1939 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. A Hightstown resident, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
He is survived by his wife, Irene, three sons and a daughter.

[riddler 0]

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Bush used a Switlik canopy when he made a parachute jump on his 75th birthday.

Does this mean Bush used a round for his jump? That doesn't seem likely. It doesn't look like Switlik ever made square canopies.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[riggerrob 643]

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Bush used a Switlik canopy when he made a parachute jump on his 75th birthday.

Does this mean Bush used a round for his jump? That doesn't seem likely. It doesn't look like Switlik ever made square canopies.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

When he did an AFF jump in 1997 (Yuma, Arizona), retired President George Bush used a Manta main (donated by Flight Concepts) and a Raven-M 282 reserve (donated by Precision Aerodynamics) packed into a Telesis harness/container (donated by Rigging Innovations). An FXC 12000 AAD was attached to the main ripcord and a Student Cypres (donated by Airtec) was installed in the reserve.
I should know as I assembled and packed the reserve.

[mr2mk1g 10]

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Does this mean Bush used a round for his jump?

Of course it does - his jump during WWII into the pacific when his fighter was shot down by a Jap Zero.

THAT's when he used his round!

[riddler 0]

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Bush used a Switlik canopy when he made a parachute jump on his 75th birthday.

Original news report states that he jumped a Switlik (i.e. round) canopy on his 75th brihday. This is wrong, according to riggerrob. Thanks for the info.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD