FLYJACK

Bradley is correct in theory, but he doesn't address the flightpath.. You have to put the plane over the Washougal drainage area..

Portland ATC comment... Larry was referring to. It doesn't put the plane over the Washougal basin.

Everybody has a plan.. they only divulge it when they need to. My scenario,, initially Cooper has a plan to jump further South of US border.. he would have given flight instructions in the air closer to the jump destination. That is why he never gave a fightpath or coords in his initial demands. When SF and LA was suggested he rejected them for being too large, he still thought he would be on the plane when it landed in the US to refuel. After Reno was agreed to Cooper changed his plan and wanted to jump ASAP (now wanted airstairs down on takeoff), probably scared to be on the plane in Reno. He was delayed by trouble opening the stairs but had no idea where the plane would have been. There is no way he jumped where he had planned.

I think it is the crew transcripts,, I did a word search but didn't find it.. It said something like we had planned a fuel stop in Mazatlan but it turned out to be unnecessary.. I know it is there somewhere. I'll have to find it.. Found this.. if true and Cooper agreed to Sacramento a smaller airport but rejected SF and LA then it wasn't about going over the water and he expected to be on the plane when it landed.

Larry exaggerated the Portland ATC comment that the plane was E of V-23. It does eliminate the Western Flightpath but doesn't support the Washougal theory. The ATC radar guy said 1-2 miles E of the centre of the flyway... which is still within the 8 mile wide V-23 corridor and is consistent with the "FBI" flightpath.. The Washougal theory is a convenient speculation.. but doesn't really make sense. Cooper said going to Mexico City, can't land in US for any reason but can refuel anywhere in Mexico.. they had actually planned a refuel stop in Mazatlan.. His demand wasn't to fly nonstop to Mexico City. As I have argued Cooper did not jump were he initially planned.. he had no way of knowing where the plane would be when he did jump. If he was initially jumping further South he could have given instructions in the air closer to the jump spot. That may be why he initially never gave a flightpath...

Dr Edwards posted the gate clerk testimony.. https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/22607125-d-b-cooper-the-gate-clerk The gate clerk testimony was already posted in part 11 p 324. According to the un-redacted Gray files, his name is Hal V Williams.. https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/22607196-d-b-cooper-the-testimony-of-lew-wallick Dr Edwards is still wrong.. Rataczak said he was manually flying the plane and he felt the stairs come down. The autopilot claim in the FBI docs is incorrect at least for the Wa state leg.. The only mystery is why Edwards can't get the facts right. Right after the pressure bump/oscillation Rataczak told ATC to mark their shrimp boat (radar screen) then he called NWA/Soderlind before reaching the suburbs of Portland. There were two comms, not one. Those comms were recorded but we don't have them. It is clear Cooper jumped N of approximately Battleground, just as the "FBI/Soderlind determined. They had those comms. The only way Cooper to argue Cooper didn't jump N of about Battleground (to about the Lewis R) is to somehow claim the pressure bump was not Cooper leaving the plane and that is a heavy lift.

The silver nitrate print method was used for "wet" surfaces, unlikely it was used on the tie. Standard fingerprint powders can contain many of the particles found. However, the tie was tested for body fluids and there are several tests available including luminescence or sodium hydroxide..

when Larry said there are no conspiracies in the Government.. I had to chuckle..

Larry makes a common error, he assumes the only time a bill is potentially checked is when it is initially spent.. the bills were entered into NCIC and circulate for years until potential destruction.. there are many points in its lifecycle that a bill can be caught. If there were almost 9700 bills in circulation for years one would have turned up somewhere.. I agree with the numismatist on this.. Cooper, lost the money, hid the money or took it out of the country.. This is interesting,, one theory I have is that Cooper lost the money and it was found by somebody who didn't turn it in but couldn't spend it..

Clearly and understandably Larry isn't as up to date on the case as we are.. The FBI mandate is to bring a prosecution.. so their goal is inherently "actionable" but this case will never be prosecuted now. Larry said.. Soderlind noted ATC Portland stated the plane was East of V23,, not the pilots.. we have previously found that document.. "1-2 miles East of the center of this particular flyway".. not in the Washougal basin but within V-23 corridor and consistent with the "FBI" flightpath map .

Great episode.. will be a classic.. I wanted to interrupt so many times.. Cigarette butts were destroyed not lost per FBI file. Cooper's initial demand was airstairs lowered inflight. Later changed. Dan Cooper comic was published in Mexico in Spanish for Latin America... Bonus points for rejecting Ulis's western flight path. and the chutes,, what about the two backpack cards, one was the chute Cooper used... plus Cossey's serial lying, the FBI was looking for the wrong chute. Larry said they were going to go out over the water even going to Reno,,, remember Cooper rejected SF and LA because they were large airports, why if he was jumping in PNW.. Interesting that the tie is considered useless now,, that is the only way to get a 100% solve.. Larry will get a big surprise when my research comes out... I don't do facebook, Larry should post here, the crazy people are gone.

Yes, he must have been fully confident that the airstairs could open inflight. Other versions of the 727,,, there was a single prototype military sub hunting version that was never in production and 5 C-22's which were in the National Guard but don't know if the airstairs were operated differently, can't find that info. IMO, Cooper had military aviation experience but not any directly with the 727.. he may have heard about a 727 drop operation in SE Asia or have been indirectly involved. To get this thing solved 100% the only way is to obtain new DNA from the tie and match it to a suspect but that may not be possible due to the FBI or degradation/contamination of the tie.

Based on all the info we have it sure seems that Cooper was confident the airstairs could be lowered inflight but did not have any experience with them.. He must have read or heard about the 727 airstairs opening inflight...

The Boeing airstairs report starts p. 333 to p.356 FBI files part 71.. Takeaway,, if I am reading it right. The airstairs were dropped in two modes at various speeds.. they were "unlatched" with gravity which is done by not pressing the button on the lever and then hydraulic assist by pressing button and moving lever to down position. (IMO, Cooper initially had trouble because he didn't press the button on the lever) With gravity "free floating" the drop was 8.6 degrees. (125 knots) With hydraulic assist the drop was 13.5 degrees. (125 knots) No excessive pressure was noted. (depressurized cabin) (That confirms the oscillation/bump had to be the stairs retracting not opening) Slight pitch when stairs dropped. Obviously, higher speeds no freefall. No unusual control or handling problems should be experienced if the aft airstair should accidentally extend inflight.

FBI file 71 is up.. https://vault.fbi.gov/D-B-Cooper /d.-b.-cooper-part-71-of-71/view One big section, lots of pages is the 1964 Boeing inflight airstairs testing,, Lots of pages for this report..

All the Cooper bills were entered into National Crime Information Center (NCIC)..

Sketch "B" was the best likeness possible.. Forget sketch "A"..

Chaucer said.. "Regardless, even if he DID want the airstairs deployed in flight, that doesn't indicate he planned on a later jump. His behavior leads one to believe that he wanted off that aircraft as soon as possible." This is a half truth, first his initial demand was airstairs down inflight. But, his changing his demand based on Reno means he changed his plan. If his plan changed then the LZ wasn't necessarily where he did jump. Plus, there is the other evidence that supports a later planned jump. Before Reno was in play he rejected US airports for being too large.. He wanted a small airport.. if he was jumping in the PNW it wouldn't matter. That suggests he was still going to be on the plane. But after Reno was in play he changed his initial demand and wanted off ASAP. For a long time I thought like everyone that he demanded airstairs open on takeoff and that meant he wanted off ASAP but he was delayed slightly by the airstair problem,,, however, that turns out to be based on a false premise, that was not his initial demand. He changed his plan when Reno was in play and then he wanted off ASAP demanding airstairs down on takeoff. So, what was his planned LZ.... when he made his initial demand of airstairs lowered inflight, no stopping in US but can refuel in Mexico... Prior to Reno in play, there is no evidence to support a PNW jump.

and they had mentioned Phoenix just prior to this transmission.. so this is about the time Cooper rejected the larger US airports for refuelling, he demanded a smaller airport.. before he wanted the airstairs down for takeoff. That suggests he still expected to be on the plane when it landed to refuel.. then he changed his mind.

The crew mistakenly mentioned to Cooper that the chutes were coming from McChord. That is why Cooper mentioned the base... Most who had been in the military since WW2 would know about McChord..

Cooper's specific 727 knowledge is very mixed.. but he did know the airstairs can be lowered inflight.. either from experience or research. he would have had to be very confident those stairs would open.. no assumptions..

Another interesting exchange between the pilots and Cooper.. This is the second mention of the airstairs after Cooper was informed of the fuel range problem and they were negotiating a US airport. Cooper wanted stew to manipulate stairs after plane airborne... then pilots try to tell Cooper how to lower after takeoff (they wanted Tina off the plane).. then pilots suggest to Cooper to let them lower stairs partially for takeoff.. they don't know if they can lock partially down. That exchange seems to indicate that the pilots were the ones that initially brought up stairs lowered on takeoff when Cooper wanted lowered inflight.. It wasn't clear so the FBI (in the files) discussed asking Tina if the pilots suggested anything to Cooper but there is no answer in the files... This exchange is not conclusive but it brings up the possibility that airstairs down for takeoff may have actually been instigated by the crew, then Cooper wanted it. The crew then had to convince Cooper to takeoff with airstairs up..

Cooper said Mexico City and no stopping in the US for any reason but can refuel anywhere in Mexico. They had planned for Mazatlan. In the dirty configuration they didn't have the range.. either Cooper didn't figure out the range correctly or his configuration was miscommunicated via Tina's note.

Last time for this.. The mentions in the FBI files of airstairs down on take-off are not incorrect they just neglect to include that it wasn't his first demand. Cooper's very first demands,, first crew radio transmission.. aft stairs to be lowered after takeoff Harrison notes corroborate (time).. aft stairs lowered inflight and FBI summary.. HJ specified... the aft stairs to be extended after take-off. Later specified that stairs must be fully extended before take-off. Done.. Cooper changed his demand when they were negotiating a refuelling stop in the US.

727 flaps.. BTW,, DC-9 had 15 degree flap setting