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Keep it civil or it's all going to be trashed. If you'd like to discuss this topic without my moderation, Yahoo.com makes "groups" all day long. Feel free to use them. quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver

If anyone thinks they are going to get a social-psychological profile of Cooper based only on the drink he ordered at the start of his tenure aboard 305 - guess again.

Only the true Messiah denies his divinity.

So ole' Rudy FAFO: Judge penalizes Giuliani for ‘continued and flagrant’ disregard of court order in 5-page ruling The Judge also said the jury will be instructed to infer that Giuliani received “substantial benefits” for defaming the election workers and that the Giuliani businesses “continue to generate” revenue from their operations. The order makes it clear that Giuliani and his counsel will not be able to make an argument or introduce any evidence related to his financial benefits. He also will not be able to state or suggest that he is “insolvent, bankrupt, judgment proof, or otherwise unable to defend himself, comply with this Court’s orders, or satisfy and eventual judgement.

Going to change the subject completely for a minute. Alcohol. Cooper ordered one bourbon and 7 Up at the beginning of the flight to Seattle, spilled it, and did not order another. A drink menu from around 1959 has circulated listing the various bourbons available en route. However, by 1970, as near as I can tell, NWA had ceased listing brands and had resorted to listing styles such as Canadian, rye, bourbon, etc. So, that said, in the 1970s, one of the most popular drink orders was a "7&7" which was Seagram;'s Crown 7 whisky and 7 Up soda. Catchy name, and that meant catchy marketing. Today, if you order a 7&7 you're probably in your 70s. Also, today, Crown 7 is considered a "cheap booze". It's a dive bar whisky intended for bar flies and homeless people. Bourbon was, and still is, a more sophisticated choice for drinkers. While there are varying tiers of bourbon - some expensive and some not - by and large, bourbon is a better whisky than Seagram's 7. Why then, would Cooper choose a bourbon over the ubiquitous Seagram's 7? Was Crown 7 not available on board? Seems unlikely considering its popularity at the time. Perhaps Cooper chose bourbon to appear more sophisticated? To appear above his station in life? If that's the case, then why mix it with a cheap soda like 7 Up? Whisky snobs will tell you that bourbon is sweet enough to be indulged in neat or over ice. They eschew using bourbon as a mixer in a high ball. To me, this indicates that Cooper was trying to appear like a sophisticated, well-to-do man with high brow drink choices, but was still a blue collar or middle class guy who enjoyed his 7&7s and Schlitz beer. This was his one chance to show off, yet he failed by mixing a good liquor with a crummy soda. Also, bourbon is made from corn mash. This makes it sweeter than rye whisky which is made from rye wheat, or scotch which is made from barley. Thus, mixing a sweet whisky with a sweet soda might indicate that Cooper had a bit of a sweet tooth. Lastly, the fact that Cooper ordered just one drink and did not order any after he spilled his first, indicates that Cooper was not a heavy drinker. His ordering the drink was probably more for show than to actually get intoxicated. So, in the end, Cooper's order of a bourbon and 7 Up demonstrates an inexperienced drinker trying to appear sophisticated and upper class while revealing his true blue collar or lower middle class social standing. It might also demonstrate Cooper's sweet tooth. This is all elaborate conjecture based on a very small detail of the case, but I got tired of hearing people argue about people who obviously aren't DB Cooper.

Ah! I 'knew' i had read an article that went over the development of the Excalibur/cross bracing, but despite searching for years i never managed to find it again. Turns out is this video i had watched! Haha. Thanks for posting it

Yep, I had one. Best performance by far for a wing in that era. And yes, every few dozen jumps an opening would jack up my neck. Probably wasn't the best canopy for a video guy back then, but it sure was fun to fly.

Still F-111 if I recall correctly. An invention a little ahead of its time, just waiting for ZP to arrive...

Some of you people place way, way too much significance on this case and make it a bigger deal than it was. No one was getting murdered over a stupid 40 year old unsolved hijacking. Cooper heist was a clever bank robbery where the perp got away, nothing more.

Caveat: I am addressing student landings. Post AFF. All wind conditions. All. ALL. I don't fully understand the question. Early. Yes, it is a temporary solution, but not a panacea. Yes. Temporary. Simply one more step closer to getting them to understand that flaring is a dynamic process and not a 1, 2, 3 procedure. My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

Ever been to a party crashed by people you wouldn’t entertain in your garden shed? You know the type. They walk through your house like they owned it, help themselves to what’s in the fridge, change the music to what they like, spill red wine and put out cigarettes on your carpets, treat your books and skydiving trophies like pieces of junk, leave wet rings on your lovingly-restored antique oak table, and miss the toilet bowl when they piss. And then, incredibly, are offended when you get irritated. Among that milieu is the sub-type who can talk for hours in a monotone about the many shades of metallic-flake paint, not noticing your eyes glazing over. When you move to a group of friends, he follows and butts in with the same topic, one so soporific that everyone mumbles politely and wanders off. When you survey the damage the next morning, you wish you hadn’t been quite so polite. Better to have grabbed ‘em by the scuff of the neck and run ‘em out of your house and off your property. (There are some who may already have a sneaking suspicion where I’m heading with this.) Dropzone.com is a clever idea, an enticing venue for skydivers to air all sorts of topics. But when non-skydivers arrogantly treat it as their own, not least because those it was designed for are too polite to tell ‘em to hit the road, then a problem is generated, one that becomes increasingly divisive. Especially so when it’s clear that their ‘contributions’ (inevitably larded with poor grammar, worse syntax, and flabby thinking) are sad efforts to draw attention to themselves in the company of people who, unlike themselves, actually understand the mechanics of aviation, parachute equipment, freefall, and meteorology. It’s those who do grasp those subjects, through the expenditure of time, passion, money and effort, that have earned (yes, earned is the right word) the right to contribute. Going back to the beginning, you might reasonably ask if I socialize with non-skydivers? You bet I do. But they are articulate, engaging and fascinating people who have taken risks and pushed the envelope in their own fields of endeavor, certainly not wannabes who live dull troglodyte lives surrounded by fantasies they haven’t the moral, philosophical or physical courage to ever realize. Like our much-burdened moderator, I wish the good ones fair winds in their quest. And with that, I think I’ve said enough on the subject. Hoop