FLYJACK

True, but there are two issues.. The terminology Cooper used for his request may give us insight into his experience.. and the evidence supports Cossey's description of the chute Cooper used as being false, that means they were looking for the wrong chute and Cooper's chute may have been found. Cossey claimed his chute had no D rings.. then why was Cooper given front reserves with no harness and why would Cossey have personal non steerable bailout rigs.. answer, he didn't.. Cossey thought his chutes were grabbed from Issaquah but before Emrick sent them in, they obtained Hayden's chutes and only the fronts were sent.. but Cossey didn't know that when the FBI called him about the chutes left on the plane. Cossey described his chute he thought was used, but it wasn't. Conclusion,, Cossey initially believed his back chutes were used and he gave the wrong description for Cooper's chute, they weren't, Hayden's were used. Cossey discovered his error within a day but never corrected it. So, Cooper's chute may have been found but rejected because it didn't match Cossey's false description.

Typically, the harness only was worn by the crew, then the front or back chute would get attached for a bailout.. but for some planes pilot's wore their bailout rigs..

Halo started in the late 50's.. but, that is why he became a Cooper suspect.. his Vietnam jump experience.

For bailout backs standard location is the left side.. these guys might have gear or equipment that makes the right side better.. 5 HALO jumps late 1970 to Oct 1971.. https://sogsite.com/halo-jumps/

The outlier is the few combat Halo jumps in Laos,, both front and back chutes... first one in late 1970, third June 1971. If Cooper knew about those, it may have been his inspiration. https://www.coffeeordie.com/macv-sog-halo Look how many guys have a right side pull..

WW2.. multiple chutes means either not all..

The reason given was that since it was thanksgiving eve they couldn't get the authorization from the right people in time.. that may have just been an excuse but they also contacted Cossey and Hayden.. Remember, they only had a few hours to secure the chutes..

Cooper was expecting military gear from McChord.. McChord was initially contacted but apparently couldn't get authorization.. So they contacted Cossey and Hayden. McChord would have had static rigs and bailout rigs only?? If so, he expected bailout rigs. His parachute demand was important, I can't see somebody obfuscating terminology and taking the risk of getting the wrong equipment.

Cossey would have known the next day,, but he provided his faulty description of the chute Cooper used the day before.. Hard to tell in that article if Cossey is actually acknowledging the source of the chutes or it is the writer.

I found in my research that aircrew's used either front or back bailout rigs and that terminology was used from WW2 on.. they didn't seem to use both.. this suggests Cooper may have expected 4 independent rigs with harnesses, not just two sets. McNalley got and used a front chute with a harness. For something like a C-47, they would sit in a rack and get put on quickly for an emergency bailout..

Eric Ulis & Mark Meltzer -"Parachuting From An Airliner" Panel -11/18/22 Still using Cossey's incorrect description of the chute Cooper used.. Hayden's chutes were the same except the one Cooper used was 3 years newer..

This might be Spreckel. Mitchell's name doesn't seem to work unless his middle name is spelled out and I am not sure what it is.. It is the only name with 24 letters/spaces that seems to fit. Significant if it is because it would corroborate Mitchell's "turkey neck" description. Is this Mitchell or Speckel... Can anybody make Mitchell's name fit..

Gryder has lost any cred with that phoney parachute stunt.. He also said Cooper's tie and clasp was 100% identified as belonging to McCoy.. um no had one "similar".... when shown a photo.. dark blue or black?

So, that got me thinking,, Cooper asked for front and back chutes, this terminology goes back to WW2. But, WW2 used static lines, except aircrews.. What would he have expected to get.. or technically.. what was he actually requesting.. and what does that indicate about Cooper. Two front reserves and two mains??

In this article this is labeled as the mailbag McNally received the money in.. but it looks like a front harness.. and the image is labelled parachute. https://www.metrotimes.com/news/the-final-flight-of-martin-mcnally-2483257?storyPage=3

Both were reserves.. Cooper's back pack was a reserve and McNally had a chest reserve..

The argument that Cooper wanted to avoid coastal cities to avoid the Ocean doesn't make any sense.. Cooper agreed to Red Bluff then across to Reno. Cooper was offered San Francisco, LA and San Diego all rejected for being too big.. San Francisco is in a direct line over Red Bluff,, LA and San Diego are East of Red Bluff and even East of Reno in a direct flight.. If the crew wanted to go over the Ocean they could have even if they were flying to Reno.. The best explanation is that at that time Cooper thought he was still going to be on the plane when it landed to refuel... he didn't want to be on the plane at a large airport... more confusion, less control and higher risk.

Maybe, this is just one minor piece that fits a hypothesis.. .. if he was about to jump he would be concerned about the weather.. if everyone else was concerned why the need to hide it. Unconcerned, he now stuck out. It is also possible Williams misread the situation. "WILLIAMS stated he has a habit of noticing individuals dressed in black and this was the reason he remembers the above described individual. The man described above had a “blah” attitude and was quite unaffected by the inclement weather conditions prevailing at the time, which noticeably bothered the rest of the passengers." and remember Cooper's initial demand was airstairs to be lowered after takeoff.

Lots to unwind there,, some not accurate. but he jumped at night over the jungle with slight injuries.

That was a typo.. was NOT concerned with the weather.. I corrected it.. the gate agent said he was the only passenger waiting that was not concerned with the bad weather.. If you were planning to jump in the PNW you would be concerned..

When Reno was in play he decided to jump ASAP.. being on the plane when it landed was risky, he had the money and the opportunity to get out. Jumping closer to take-off would give him more time.

Heading South as a ruse is the prevailing thought, but I can't accept that Cooper gave a demand he knew would be rejected by the pilots as impossible. He had aviation knowledge.. It is like carjacking a taxi in NY and demanding to be taken to Miami nonstop.. His demand only makes sense if Cooper believed the range could make Mexico. So, he believed it could and expected the plane to go to Mexico but either he made an error with the range or his demands were miscommunicated by the crew, maybe he wanted the dirty configuration when stairs were deployed but his plan changed for Reno and he wanted stairs open ASAP. Another big piece is that he rejected landing and refuelling in large US airports, he wanted a smaller one.. if he was going to jump in the PNW at that point, why would it matter to him. IMO, he rejected those large airports because he was still thinking he would be on the plane when it landed to refuel, but he changed his mind when Reno was in play and bailed early. Plus, he was not dressed for PNW jump and hike out in that weather.. which he was (Edit) not concerned with according to the gate agent. If he lands in that weather and terrain he will be wet and dirty.. now he has to walk out. He would look obvious and need clothes.. We can't prove this but there is inferential evidence.

Others disagree but IMO, based on his demands and his rejection of large airports during the Reno negotiations he wanted to jump south of the US border.. he changed his plan and jumped early due to Reno. When he demanded no stops in the US and can refuel in Mexico, he believed the plane could make it to Mexico. Either he miscalculated the range flying dirty or Stew /crew misunderstood his demand, maybe they weren't to fly dirty the entire way but instead when the stairs were lowered.. because of the change to Reno the stairs were lowered sooner.

Yes, it seems that way..

The problem with that is you are using Jo Weber's interpretation of that doc as fact. Her claims are entirely unreliable.