1929: Stanley Switlik's New Escape Seat

My very dear friend, the late Steve Horvath was a Switlik man from the word "go." I grew up with Steve on Hartley Avenue, and in his later years, he was one of my "all stars" when I was the President of St. Anthony's Holy Name Society. Along with the Soffel, Slabicki, and Dilts families, he and his wife Carrie, were close neighborhood friends back in the years of my youth. Every time I hear of the Switlik Parachute Company, I think of Steve. He was a Switlik man through and through, and one of the nicest gentlemen I have had the pleasure to call my friend.

1929: AIRPLANE + STALLED ENGINE = CRASH

The pilot of this airplane slowed down too much, the slow RPM of propellor couldn't sustain the weight of the plane, and the crash described above was the result. There is a treasure of stories relating Mercer Airport, and also to the Switlik Parachute Company. As they surface, they will be posted.

1929: SWITLIK'S ASTOUNDING PARACHUTE

From the "Aircraft" and "Local Businesses" folder comes this very interesting graphic which tells of the successful thousand foot drop of a Switlik parachute over the skies of Ewing Township's Mercer Airport. Apparently the jump was made by a plane was rigged with a trap door, where the jumpers sat in a seat attached to the parachute. As we all know, most flyers "bailed out," pulling on the "rip cord." It would be an impossible task to even attempt to count the number of lives saved by Stanley Switlik's parachute. The company started business in the South Trenton area and ultimately moved to its current location on Walnut Avenue in Hamilton Township.