FLYJACK

The original description of the chute Cooper used was olive drab with tan cotton harness. Cossey claimed his NB6/8 was sage green nylon container and harness.. The 302 above was based on an in person interview with Cossey on the 26th.. when Cossey would have been aware that the chutes were from Hayden and he was the rigger. Cossey must have talked to the FBI before that interview. There is a 302 that states they were tying to get a hold of him on the 25th but couldn't up to 3:30.. but I suspect they talked to him by phone before that in person interview.

It is the best and most logical explanation.

You would think,,, take it to the next level.. that means they were looking for the wrong chute and rejected many found over the years based on Cossey's description.. Cooper's chute might have been found and rejected.. and how can they have two backpack packing cards from the plane and not realize one was the chute Cooper took.. and further the FBI wants the money or the chutes.. if they don't have the chute description correct they won't be able to ID any chute.. Seems either there is a game being played or gross negligence.

Cossey claims he had Issaquah send in his two personal backpacks, one freefall rig (B-4 sport rig) and an NB-8 emergency rig... this is BS and the FBI never caught it. Cooper never used Cossey's NB6/8... both chutes came from Hayden. He used Hayden's Pioneer #60-9707... he likely chose it over the other #226 because it was 3 years newer. and for 50+ years they were looking for the wrong chute. So, this has spun so far away from reality,, Cossey claimed the NB6/8 had a hard to find the ripcord because the handle was flat.. Gryder has used Cossey's "hard to open" claim and moved the handle to right side based on Larry Carr's misunderstanding... all to use as evidence for the chute he claims he found to support McCoy being Cooper.. Completely nuts.

In all three images of Vince Petersen his hair is parted on the wrong side, the right.

It doesn't make sense that Cooper would open the dummy after already having the good front open.. and if he opened the dummy for some reason there would be pieces left behind,, why toss the remaining parts. IMO, Cooper tossed the dummy whole because it didn't have a packing card, didn't have a seal and felt tampered with...

Could be, everything I read referred to harnesses being worn and chutes attached for bailout, no distinction between front and back was made. Though some pilots wore rigs. But, the point I am making is Cossey's story doesn't really make sense.. He gave instructions for his non steerable military bailout back chutes and front chutes to be picked up from Issaquah, we know the backs came from Hayden, but the problem is Cossey claimed his back chute didn't have D rings. So, why send Cooper front reserves with no harnesses that couldn't be used. Having fronts sent without harnesses and back chutes from Hayden with no D rings is understandable as they wouldn't know if they had D rings or not... Emrick was told backs weren't needed. but Cossey arranging for his back chute to be used with no D rings and sending fronts with no harnesses does not make sense.. if Cossey knew fronts and backs were required then why send fronts that couldn't be used with his back chutes. See the problem,,, Cossey was wrong about his chute being used then lied about it.. Cooper didn't use Cossey's NB6/8 sage green nylon container and sage green nylon harness..

Another interesting thing is the back chute left on the plane returned to Hayden is a WW2 era early 1940's P2-B-24. The harness is a 1957 Pioneer "quick fit"...

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.