Aviation Trail, Inc.
A non-profit corporation in partnership with the
National Park Service
to promote Aviation Heritage
in the Dayton region
Home of the largest
private parachute collection.*
Parachute Museum News Archives - 2025 & Prior
TM
MEMBER
The Parachute Museum is listed on Museums1.com, a leading directory for museums and cultural institutions.
ISee Visitor Center Page for visiting hour updates & details).
Open Wednesday through Sunday
9 AM - 4 PM (closed Monday & Tuesday)
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum is located on the second floor of the Aviation Trail Visitor Center. The Museum tells the story of the development of the free fall parachute from its invention at Dayton’s McCook Field after World War I, up to the vital role it plays in safely landing today’s spacecraft. The time line around the soffit of the exhibit space highlights significant events in the history of the parachute. The Museum also includes interactive exhibits, artifacts, historic photographs and text.
Wide view of gallery
ejection seat
Wide view of gallery
November 21, 2025
Parachute Museum Interview in The Ohio Newsroom
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum in Dayton tells the story of how parachutes evolved over time, from a Leonardo da Vinci sketch to the free-fall parachute skydivers use today.
Ohio Newsroom reporter Erin Gottsacker interviews Parachute Museum Curator Randy Zuercher in this story. Click below for the full story with audio and video.
September 21, 2025
Parachute Museum at WACO Fly-IN 2025
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum had a display of parachutes and an ejection seat at the 32nd Annual WACO Fly-In on Saturday, September 20. Scores of beautiful WACO aircraft flew in for display and flying demonstrations, with entertainment, food trucks, and many activities for kids. Scores of attendees stopped at the Parachute Museum area to try on parachutes, and learn more about the museum.
August 22, 2025
Parachute Museum Receives Donation of Ejection Seats
Thirteen seats were generously donated to Aviation Trail, Inc. and the Parachute Museum from the Human Systems Division Life Sciences Equipment Lab, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Above: Aviation Trail President Steve Brown moves a seat into storage area
The items include the following:
Ejection Seats (as seen in slide show to the right):
F-15C, ACES II SN F5A602 (with recovery parachute assembly)
B-52, SN N/A
F-5, SN 14-70-202-505
F-89, SN RAC177
F-15, ESCAPAC, SN A18-248
OV-10, LW-3B, SN N/A
A-10, ESCAPAC, SN A18-100
A-7E, Stencel, SN 1T016
T-37, SN 2252
B-52, SN WAC-9
B-52, SN 54
F-106B, SN A369
F-4, SN 1006
Additional Flight Equipment:
PCU-15 Torso Harness
BA-22 Harness/Container
Flight Suit
Aviation Trail President Steve Brown spoke of the significance of this donation:
“Smithsonian curators advised us many years ago that we have probably the largest private collection of aviation life safety equipment that exists, and donations such as this have easily tripled our collection since opening the Dave Gold Parachute Museum. As we work on upgrading and renovating the adjacent Western Fish Market & Pekin Theater Buildings we will hopefully be able to dramatically expand our exhibit, demonstrating the protection of air crews in the city that originally developed these systems, as part of the Dayton Aviation History National Historical Park”.
As a non-profit organization, the Aviation Trail, Inc. relies on the generous contributions of its members and donations by aviation enthusiasts to accomplish its mission. See the "ABOUT US" page on this website to learn more about Aviation Trail, and see the “PARACHUTE MUSEUM EXPANSION PROJECT” page for an overview of plans to increase the display facilities.
April 14, 2025
Parachute Museum Receives a Wingsuit for Collection
Donation from BASE jumper Matthew Fleischman
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum recently received a donation of a wingsuit for its collection. The donation was made by noted BASE jumper Matthew Fleischman.
What is a wingsuit?
It is a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit that uses the webbed area to provide increased lift which allows the jumper to glide in the air rather than free falling. Flights can be made by being dropped from a plane, or by BASE jumping from appropriate heights. Landing is usually done by deploying a parachute after performing the glide.
In the words of noted BASE jumper Matthew Fleischman, the donor of this Wingsuit:
“BASE jumping is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas (referring to radio masts), spand (bridges) and earth. Participants jump from a fixed object such as a cliff and after an optional freefall delay deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land. A popular form of BASE jumping is Wingsuit BASE jumping. Moab, Utah has long been the Mecca for base jumping in the United States for two reasons. The ease of access to the cliffs from which to jump, and the fact that it is legal. Typically the vertical drop is in the 400 foot range and the height above the landing area can be anywhere from zero to 1600 feet”.
Matthew Fleischman, along with fellow Wingsuit jumper Richard Webb, pioneered successful wingsuit BASE jumping in Moab. CLICK HERE to read Matthew’s full story.
See more about their jumping at Moab on this link, which includes a YouTube video:
https://www.adrex.com/en/articles/air/base-jump/wingsuit-flying-using-science-to-minimize-the-risk/
Learn more at these links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingsuit_flying
https://www.skydivemag.com/new/2014-05-01-moab-mother-of-all-base-not/
November 18, 2024
Aviation Trail is embarking on a project to expand the museum, with new plans underway.
for the Parachute Expansion Project page to see more about the plan and listen to a preview podcast.
Parachute Museum Announcement
Aviation Trail Parachute Museum Expansion Project
September 23, 2024
Parachute Museum at WACO Fly-IN
Aviation Trail Display on September 21, 2024
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum had a display of parachutes and an ejection seat at the 31st Annual WACO Fly-In on Saturday, September 21. The three day family event drew an impressive audience over the weekend in perfect weather. Scores of beautiful WACO aircraft flew in for display and flying demonstrations, with entertainment, food trucks, and many activities for kids. Scores of attendees stopped at the Parachute Museum area to try on parachutes, and learn more about the museum.
Above: Ejection Seat
Trying on a skydiver chute
Demo model of parachute foils.
Below: Some of the aircraft at the event:
August 27, 2024
Switlik Survival Products has been a major contributor to the Aviation Trail Parachute Museum. A story from February 2024 on this “Parachute Museum News” page (shown below) highlighted a donation of significant parachute items for the museum. At one time known as Switlik Parachute & Equipment Co., the company has a long history of parachute manufacturing and development. (See this link for an overview of the Switlik history https://switlik.com/pages/our-story.)
But now the museum has a personal interest story to tell regarding Switlik. Maryann (Soltis) Micai, the daughter of a longtime Switlik employee has donated some of her mother’s work-related keepsakes to the Parachute Museum, to preserve her mother’s memory. The late Mary Soltis worked at Switlik for 27 years, retiring in 1976. She was a seamstress, sewing the nylon material for parachutes and skilled at repairing the six-needle sewing machine when needed. She carried her own tool kit to work every day for this purpose. When Switlik started making life rafts, she also worked assembling the rubber material.
The Soltis Collection
Memories of a Parachute Seamstress
One of the items donated is a company uniform that Mary wore to work every day. The donation also includes the watch that Mary received upon retirement in 1979. There is also a photo of Mary at Switlik's 50th anniversary dinner in 1970, and newspaper articles in the Trenton, New Jersey newspaper The Times from 1970 and 2003 with articles about Switlik. Those articles can be downloaded to view in the links below.
(Mary Soltis is third from the left in the anniversary photo).
The Parachute Museum offers it’s sincere thanks to Maryann Micai, who travelled with her husband from Trenton New Jersey to Dayton to present the donation in person and visit the museum on August 7, 2024.
See downloads below for documents in the collection:
Download 1970 newspaper article
Download 2003 newspaper article
See the story of February 1, 2024 below for a previous report on Switlik Survival Products.
July 23, 2024
Aviation Trail Parachute Museum at Armstrong Event
The Armstrong Air & Space Museum hosted a multitude of activities on July 20 and 21, 2024 as part of the Wapakoneta Summer Moon Festival Community Event. The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum was on hand as one of the attractions. The A-7D ejection seat drew interest and as usual visitors enjoyed the chance to try on a parachute. Among the features presented at the Parachute Museum booth:
• Display of A-7D ejection seat
• Presentations on parachute history
• Try on a parachute
• Demonstrations of parachute aerodynamics
• Learn about the Caterpillar Club
• Demonstrations on different types of parachutes
• Learn about air resistance and freefall
July 2, 2024
Update on Ejection Seat Collection
On June 22, 2024 the Parachute Museum received more ejection seats from the collection of donor Dr. Jean Potvin, who delivered the items. The museum now has about 90% of the large collection.
For more about the Potvin donations see the news stories of Jan. 2023 and July 2023 below on this page. Also see the following link for the blog post of January 8,2021:
https://www.aviationtrailinc.org/post/parachute-museum-announces-new-acquisition.
Dr. Jean Potvin
One of the ejection seats recently donated to the museum is a Russian K-36DM seat. The K-36D type seat caught the world's attention in 1989 during a spectacular last minute ejection of a pilot from a Mig-29 at the Paris Air Show. The seat is designed for high speed ejections with stabilization booms, a windblast deflector, leg restraints and leg lifters, and arm restraint paddles. The seat was the subject of a Foreign Comparative Testing Program in the 1990's, with US engineers assessing the performance of the seat based on tests conducted in Russia and the US.
In January of 2024 the Aviation Trail Parachute Museum received a significant donation of vintage parachutes and artifacts to add to its collection. The donation was made by Switlik Survival Products, an early manufacturer of parachutes and a leader in survival products.
A few of the items are shown below:
#1 1941 German Paratrooper chute;
#2 Observation Balloon Guardian Angel chute from WWI;
#3 Air Force C-11 Experimental canopy with side vents;
#4 Japanese parachute with container with silk canopy from 1939;
#5 Early Balloonist chute with trapeze bar 1900.
February 1, 2024
Donation Received from Switlik Survival Products
Major Acquisition from Historic Parachute Company
These are but a few of the items received. Having received two full skids of parachutes and gear it will take some time to photograph log and prepare for storage/display. We anticipate the materials will be available to the public by the end of February.
About Switlik Survival Products:
ESTABLISHED IN 1920, Switlik Parachute Co. has been owned and operated by the Switlik family for four generations and is known worldwide as a manufacturer of the highest quality sewn and heat sealed inflatable safety and survival products for the aviation, marine, and military/government markets. Our capabilities include a wide variety of anti-exposure and anti-g suits, inflatable life rafts, inflatable life vests, inflation systems and other specialty textile-based military equipment all manufactured at our 85,000 sq. ft facility located in Trenton, NJ USA.
Switlik Parachute Company
and Switlik Survival Products
Switlik Survival Products
1325 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08609-1328
www.Switlik.com
Learn more about the fascinating history of Switlik at https://switlik.com/pages/our-story
December 5, 2023
Parachute Museum Receives Donation
B-1A Ejection Capsule Design Drawing & Artifacts
Brother and sister Todd and Sarah Panning were at the Aviation Trail Parachute Museum on October 26, 2023, to present a donation of artifacts relating to the B-1A bomber on behalf of their late father, engineer Don Panning. The donation was arranged by Dick Trapp, Lt Col (ret) USAF, a retired WPAFB engineer and representative of Aerospace Social Group. On hand to receive the items were Aviation Trail President Steve Brown, Parachute Museum Curator Randy Zuercher, plus Parachute Museum Committee members Andrew Kididis and Marty Andries.
The items donated were a B-1A ejection capsule design drawing, an emergency locator radio used by pilots who would have ejected in the capsule, and a pair of pilot's gloves. The crew escape capsule was designed to eject as a unit to improve crew survivability if the crew had to abandon the aircraft at high speed (Mach 2.2). The first three B-1As featured the escape capsule. Only four B-1A prototypes were built, and no production units were manufactured. (It was replaced by the B-1B). A video of a capsule test can be seen in the link or image below.
above: USAF photos
Parachute Museum Curator Randy Zuercher says of the donation:
“We are delighted to receive these donations that serve more than the purpose of permanent archiving and display. They also go to helping preserve the memory of their father and his work. Many thanks to the Panning family.”
September 16, 2023
Parachute Museum at WACO Golden Anniversary Fly-IN
2023 was the 100th Anniversary of the original WACO Aircraft Company in Troy, Ohio and the celebration was combined with the 30th Annual WACO Fly-In. The three day family event drew an impressive audience over the weekend in perfect weather. Scores of beautiful WACO aircraft flew in for display and flying demonstrations, with entertainment, food trucks, and many activities for kids.
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum was privileged to be one of the many exhibitors at the event and has provided some photos to share with our website visitors. The Parachute Museum was able to share stories and information about the museum with many of the event attendees of all ages.
Photos by
Aviation Trail
copyright 2023
See more on the WACO event on the Aviation Blog page at: https://www.aviationtrailinc.org/post/review-of-2023-waco-fly-in
July 24, 2023
Parachute Museum at Armstrong Event
The Armstrong Air & Space Museum hosted a multitude of activities on July 22 and 23, 2023 as part of the Wapakoneta Summer Moon Festival Community Event. The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum was on hand as one of the attractions. Among the features presented at the Parachute Museum booth:
• Presentations on parachute history
• Try on a parachute
• Demonstrations of parachute aerodynamics
• Learn about the Caterpillar Club
• Demonstrations on different types of parachutes
• Learn about air resistance and freefall
Click the button below for a news report and video of the weekend highlights, including the Parachute Museum and an interview with Parachute Museum Curator Randy Zuercher.
See a full list of Armstrong Air & Space Museum activities for the event at:
https://www.aviationtrailinc.org/post/the-wapakoneta-summer-moon-festival-community-event-1
JANUARY, 2023
Parachute Museum Announces New Acquisition
The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum announced That it is in the process of acquiring a large collection of Aircraft Ejection Seats to add to the museum’s permanent collections. The items are being donated by Parachute expert and ejection seat collector Dr. Jean Potvin.
for the full story
July 11, 2023
More News on Ejection Seat Collection
• On July 11, 2023 the Parachute Museum received a major portion of the ejection seats that are being donated to the museum's collection. Along with the ejection seats were assorted parachutes, accessories, and documentation for the objects. The donor of the objects, Dr. Jean Potvin, personally brought a truck load of items from St. Louis to Dayton. The items will then be logged and further documented into the Parachute Museum collection. Along with previous deliveries in the past year, the Parachute Museum now holds about 70% of the Potvin collection. More items will be coming pending necessary preparation.
• The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum is grateful for this generous and significant contribution by Dr. Potvin.
(For more background on the acquisition and Dr. Potvin, see the preceding story below dated January, 2023).
See photos in the slide show below:
April, 2023
Ejection Seat on Display at Sinclair
One of the ejection seats that is part of the new acquisition by Aviation Trail Parachute Museum, for an F-102, is now on display for public viewing at the Sinclair National UAS Training and Certification Center in Dayton.
for the story.
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OCTOBER, 2022
Parachute Museum in the News
WDTN News story features the Parachute Museum for the 100th anniversary of the first emergency bailout from an aircraft using a freefall parachute which took place on October 20, 1922.
CLICK HERE for the story.
For Historical Perspective
Click on the photo for a pdf file of a presentation by the Parachute Museum team and a fascinating look into parachute history.
Aviation Trail Visitor Center &
Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center
Corner of W. Third & S Williams Sts.
16 S. Williams St.
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 225-7705