Skydivers jump out of airplanes on purpose, but some people jump because their aircraft is no longer working right.
Para-Phernalia, a small business at the Arlington Municipal Airport, caters to the latter.
The original Para-Phernalia owners set up shop in 1979 near the now-closed Issaquah Airport. At first, the business focused on skydiving accessories such as jumpsuits, hats and bags for carrying parachute gear, but then moved into the parachutes themselves.
A parachute consists of three major parts — canopy, harness, and container. Most people are familiar with the canopy — it’s the part that resembles a giant bed sheet and billows above the jumper’s head upon descent. The canopy attaches to the body via a harness and is stowed in a container until it’s needed. Para-Phernalia chose to focus their design on harnesses and containers; they obtain canopies from a company in Southern California.
Dan Tarasievich, an engineer originally from the Midwest and a skydiver since 1972, bought the company in 1984 and moved it to the Arlington Municipal Airport in 1992.
At the same time, he sold off the skydiving part of the operation to focus on emergency parachutes, which have a huge demand from pilots flying in air shows, vintage military aircraft, aircraft formations, aerobatic competitions, air racing, gliders and homebuilt aircraft.
Tarasievich said what sets his product apart from other manufacturers of pilot emergency parachutes is comfort. Skydivers only wear their parachutes for a few minutes at a time so comfort isn’t a major issue, but pilots and other aircrew members often keep their parachutes on for hours as they fly air show routines and ferry airplanes around the country.
When Julie Clark, a petite air show pilot, tried on one of Tarasievich’s “micro-Softie” emergency parachutes at an air show, she told him, “This is the first parachute I’ve ever put on that fit me.”
In addition to making a sale to Clark, Tarasievich made an on-the-spot commitment to keep manufacturing parachutes for pilots of all sizes. That commitment has been a good business model, both in the U.S. and overseas, as international sales now account for about one-fourth of Para-Phernalia’s business.
Tarasievich said, “If we had to rely on just U.S. business, we wouldn’t be the same company.” One overseas customer is German company Extra Aircraft, makers of high performance aerobatic aircraft. Tarasievich said that an Extra employee visited Para-Phernalia’s booths during European air shows, and Extra now buys Softies that they provide as an option to their customers.
Marketing to the international community is identical to the U.S. — in addition to booths at air shows, Para-Phernalia advertises in aviation magazines, but mostly they rely on word of mouth from satisfied customers.
Tarasievich said pilots visiting the U.S. often borrow parachutes from U.S. pilots, and once the international pilots try on a Softie, they want one of their own.
Manufacturing overseas parachutes is the same as well, due to bilateral agreements between countries regarding aerospace equipment standards. The only difference in overseas sales is taxes and customs duties, which gives international parachute vendors a competitive price advantage.
But, according to Tarasievich, “No one is as comfortable.”
Softie parachutes have been used to save at least 34 pilot lives to date, although Para-Phernalia doesn’t hear about all bailouts. In particular, Tarasievich said European pilots seem reticent to discuss bailouts, although he knows that Softie parachutes saved the lives of two British pilots in 1999 when their fiberglass glider disintegrated after a lightning strike.
Para-Phernalia employs eight people, most with flexible hours. Tarasievich said, “Right now we’re entering the slow time of year, but rather than cut back, we’ll start building sub-assemblies for next year to keep everyone working. We haven’t laid anyone off in 20 years.”
For additional diversification, the company also recently expanded into making specialized covers for medical equipment, which accounts for about 5 percent of their business.
Many of the employees are current or former skydivers. Jonathan Clark, who sews and builds harness components, also works part time at an indoor skydiving facility. Jimmy Culler, with the company since 1980, started out sewing hats until another employee taught him how to design parachutes; he has been chief designer since the 1990s. A former skydiver, he took up hang gliding in 1995, which he views as safer.
Holly Sampson, the office administrator, grew up at the airport with her parents’ ultralight aircraft business.
She said, “The best part of my job is, when you get that one phone call that says they’re having coffee with their family when they might not have been. You don’t put a price on that. The value of your job becomes very different at that moment. This is why we do what we do.”
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