Guru312

Thanks! It's nice to have folks appreciate my humor. But imagine what grief I'd have if that got printed today. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Well...If could remember where I put the the rake, I'd rake leaves. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Greetings olde people... Because of the recent DB Cooper thread, I began to rummage around in my attic and filing cabinets looking for memories. I found a whole bunch. I found my original USPA Instructor Rating which was issued on March 21, 1971 and signed by Norm Heaton. I went through the ICC at Mike Schultz's Pelicanland in Ridgely, MD. Mike, Len Potts, Jim MacIntyre and some real old timers were in the class. If my memory serves me correctly, we were told that the ICC was the second in the country after one which was presented somewhere on the West Coast. Can anyone confirm the date of the first ICC and where it was? I'm thinking about writing an article and I'd like to get the dates and locations correct. Is it possible that the one I attended really was the first on the East Coast? I can't get over how much I look backward as I get older. Is that happening to you folks, too? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Interesting that this would be posted now. I've been looking through old memorabilia and found a VHS tape with Skycapers, Wings, Masters of the Sky and something else on it. Unfortunately, it was recorded about 20 years ago at a slow speed and the quality really sucks. I'm hoping the quality isn't so bad that my daughter won't say, "Dad, this move is terrible. I don't want to watch this." Kids brought up on HDTV and cable can't seem to appreciate grainy 16mm and old, blurry VHS with washed out color. Of course, they aren't old guys trying to relive their youth through film. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Wow! Damned if I do and damned if I don't. It was my intent to stay out of this increasingly emotional thread but this post of yours and, more so, having a moderator lock a thread I started to address the facts of this issue has caused me to defend myself. I started another thread having to do with this issue because, IMHO, Mrs. Weber is failing to look at the facts regarding DB Cooper. You will note that in the fourth paragraph of the post which starts this thread she wrote: I don't want to debate theories about how the crime was done and who else may have done it. For those of you new to the thread and DB Cooper particularly, I was under scrutiny 35 years ago because of an advertisement I placed in a Philadelphia newspaper in which I advertised "Parachute lessons for hijacking and other fun." Click on the link in my sig below to see the ad. I purposely created another subject because I did not want to hijack the hijacking thread. The moderator of the locked thread told me a new thread wasn't needed and to post here. This response addresses other facts regarding DB Cooper. In the other thread I have a link to an essay I wrote dealing with facts Mrs. Weber doesn't want to entertain. And, as you can see from her posts up-thread of this she wrote to me: I am really sorry you started that thread. What she doesn't want the DZ.com community to be aware of is that two or three FBI agents have gone public about this whole issue. One agent co-wrote a book about the whole episode and another agent shot and killed a man who hijacked a plane for $500,000 not long after the DB Cooper hijack. That $500,000 hijacker was ex-Special Forces and a seasoned skydiver. Speculation at the time was that he did the DB Cooper hijack. My money is on him; Mrs. Weber's money seems to be on her ex-husband. The FBI agent O'Hara who did the shooting is quoted in the book written by the FBI agent as saying: "When I shot Richard McCoy, I shot D.B. Cooper at the same time." You can read more about this in the essay I wrote by clicking here: http://berniesayers.com/An_Internet_Search_for_DB_Cooper.htm As I write, above, I purposely did not want to attack or defame Mrs. Weber in her own thread but she and I have a differing opinion regarding finding facts and dealing with them. I have defended her against very personal attacks but disagree with her current attitude in regard to the publicly available issues. I did not want to hijack the hijacking thread by writing a post like this but I'm following the moderator's guidance. You decide. Read the other information available. See my essay above for links. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Show me one post in which I am hitting at you. Show me one post in which I turn things around. And...I think you have it wrong: I'm not going to participate in *your* game. It must be a game for it surely isn't a quest for information and closure in regard to the DB Cooper mystery. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Ever met a Lawyer or an Accountant that COULD READ ?! Much less one on the Federal Teat??? ~ I N C O M I N G ! ! ! ~ No. O U T G O I N G !!!...I'm done... This thread has lost its interest for me. It is beyond my understanding why the person who started it steadfastly refuses to file FOIA requests...and then bitches about the information that is not provided. Good luck, Jo, I have better things to do with my life. I think I'm going to rake leaves. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

As of November 25 at 1:00 AM EST the D B Cooper Unsolved Skyjacking thread started by skyjack71 has created 2400 views and over 60 posts. I started researching the DB Cooper story earlier this evening and found some fascinating stuff. I found an article with a picture of skyjack71's husband! You can see the picture and links to the original article in my article here: http://berniesayers.com/An_Internet_Search_for_DB_Cooper.htm I plan to add additional copy and links as time permits. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

----------------------- I'm sorry, Jo, but if *you* have not filed multiple FOIA requests *yourself* on this issue you are not doing an investigation. IMHO. I follow and study the UFO abduction phenomenon. Researchers for that topic spend years filing FOIA requests. Most often, the FOIA docs are redacted and meaningless or worthless. Do *you* have docs like that? Do *you* have 'over 40 ft of files'? It seems to me that you should be exhausting every possible opportunity available. I was hoping that your response to my question about filing FOIA requests would be that you have done that and you could describe to those of us who are quite interested just what the gov't *did* send you. It astounds me that you haven't filed any. If you have filed FOIA requests--and I am misunderstanding your response--please correct me. Not speculation. Not innuendo. Not exaggerated talk. Written documents: affidavits, investigation reports or what ever. I'll go one step further, I'll even create a totally new website on your behalf *FOR NO CHARGE* with the FOIA *documents* that you have available. Maybe you could get "InSearchOfDBCooper.com" or something similar. Let the world see where you are on this. Go for it. Send me a PM with a list of what you have received from the US gov't in response to your FOIA requests. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Jo Weber says, For the Record: NO Way! My quest is not tied to a fictional movie nor to 'Nam' nor to such a bracelet. I do not know where you got that information. I have never said he was in Viet Nam. -------------------------- Jo--- What I am saying is that after the hijacked plane landed all of the passengers and crew were interviewed by the FBI and other law enforcement investigators. I'm also saying that *somewhere* there is a record of the interviews that *maybe* the writer of the book "Free Fall" upon which the movie "The Pursuit of DB Cooper" was based talked to investigators or read their reports. I'm assuming that *maybe* those writers would share any information that they dug up in their research for the book/film with you. Hell, with everyone following this 35 year old mystery!! I'm speculating--pure speculation!--that there may be some factual truth to the scene in the movie in which the Montagnard elephant hair bracelet is mentioned. If, in fact, the reports relate that 'DB' wore such a bracelet which was described by the hostage flight attendant then tracking down anyone privy to the report would be to your benefit in your quest. Have you read "Free Fall"? Have you seen the movie? Have you petitioned the gov't under FOIA for anything they have regarding the hijacking? If people can request documents under FOIA for UFO info and CIA/NSA operations information or other material surely you could enter a FOIA request for documentation regarding the hijacking. I certainly would! If you haven't requested information under FOIA it would seem to me it would be a good and very important action. Again, have you requested information under FOIA from any government agency? Has anyone reading this forum thread requested DB Cooper documents under the FOIA? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I watched the movie "The Pursuit of DB Cooper" last night and there was scene which may help you if there was any truth in it. Plus, I remember much speculation from the time that DB was ex-military, specifically Special Forces. In the movie, the Robert Duvall character is interviewing the flight attendant who DB locked in the bathroom. He asked about DB's clothing, accent and other characteristics. The attendant said, "Well, he was wearing a bracelet." Duvall grins and replies, "...a transvestite hijacker?" The attendant described the bracelet as being made of coarse, black wire. Duvall pulled up his sleeve and says, "Did it look like this?" and showed her a Montagnard elephant hair bracelet. If the movie writers got that idea for the elephant hair bracelet from the investigators --FBI or others-- you could possibly send a Freedom of Information request for available information. If the investigation records that you find mention that DB had the bracelet it pretty much confirms that he was Special Forces or a Marine stationed with them in 'Nam. It's possible to buy the bracelets on eBay for $49.00 but not in 1971...nor in 1992 when the movie was made. Did your husband mention the movie? Can you confirm that he was in 'Nam and that he was with the Montagnards? As I see it, your quest is tied closely to confirming if the 'real' DB was wearing the bracelet and if your husband served in 'Nam. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I read this thread a few hours ago and decided to search through my memorabilia files for an advertisement I placed in a Philadelphia newspaper a day or so after the hijacking. I created a web page with a short essay and a picture of the advert that I hope makes everyone chuckle...including Mrs. Weber. I'd never be able to place something like this in today's paranoid times. The ad reads "Parachute lessons for Hijacking and other fun" See it here: http://berniesayers.com/I_am_not_DB_Cooper.htm I'm going to go watch the movie "The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper." Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I'm so glad that you asked!! The mother of my second daughter is 30 days older than my first daughter. My granddaughter is 2 years older than my second daughter. My second daughter is 2 years older than my grandson. My second daughter is 13. My first daughter is 44. I'm 65. Well, 65 chronologically, 19 otherwise. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Now wait a minute...isn't shagging sleeves the second reason reason early jumpers had girl friends? Number one being holding tension, of course. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Hi Howard! And thanks for the comments. I have Poynter's first edition around somewhere but haven't seen it in a few years. I remember talking with Mike Schultz at Pelicanland about the sleeve development and I think it was he who mentioned Istel. I made a jump or two at Sicily DZ at Bragg with no line and finally decided that I 'risk my life' by tying it on. Thanks again. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I went through jump school in March of 1960 at Ft. Bragg while with the 82nd Airborne. I started skydiving in June of 1960 with the XVIII Abn Corps SPC. When I started skydiving, there was great 'debate' among the club members about the safety of having a sleeve retainer line to hold on the sleeve and just how long it should be if one existed at all. When I got out of the military and started jumping in civilian life in 1962 even more heated debate took place about the retainer line. Can any of you old folks remember when the sleeve retainer line was conceived? And by whom? Jacques Istel? Do you remember similar 'debates' about the safety of it? 'Debate' = 'screaming arguments'. Comments? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

In the early '70s, a guy shows up on my DZ and wants to jump. He said he had a few static line jumps and a single freefall at another DZ and wanted to get back into the sport. I looked at his log book. Turns out, I knew his instructor and all the comments looked good. I told him to get on his jumpsuit and we'd check out a few things. When he got his jumpsuit on, I saw that he had military wings sewn on in the usual place on the left chest. When I looked more closely, I realized the wings had four stars--which meant four combat jumps. I asked where he could possibly have gotten four combat jumps. He said he had been with the 82nd Airborne and made three in Europe and one in North Africa. He said only a few guys had that many. He jumped into Sicily as well as into France on D-Day. Talk about being in awe! Here was a guy with four combat jumps with the 82nd. I thought I was a big deal having served with the 82nd during, but not in, 'Nam. He didn't like to talk about the fighting but he was more than happy to talk about what it was like to jump into combat four times...and live through it..as well as all the places he got drunk and into bar fights. WW II combat jumpers are a *very* different breed. He became one of my best friends and I taught two of his sons to jump. He died about 12 years ago of a heart attack. Rest in peace, Walt Santman! Some of you East Coast jumpers may have known his sons Eric and Tony who jumped with the Herd at United in the 70s and 80s. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Very possible, that sounds familiar. But so does Helio Courior. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I went through jump school at Bragg in March, 1960 and was fortunate enough to make a fewjumps from a C-119. The closeness of clam shell doors at the rear made full equipment jumps a bit cramped as I remember. During my time with the 82nd, I also jumped the C-123 and C-130. Some guys jumped the C-124 but I missed that for some reason. The XVIII SPC club had access to just about anything the Army flew. I jumped an H-21, 2-3 other helios and some weird STOL craft similar to a Porter that was used by the Special Forces. Damn if I can remember what that was and I can't find my log book...from back in that day. It got off the ground in a few hundred feet...or so it seemed. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Hmmm. You are *really* making me feel old. I started skydiving with the XVIII SPC club in June, 1960. 82nd Airborne jump school at Bragg in March 1960. At the time, the Army Team was jumping 7-TU rigs which were determined to be way too hot for the likes of 10 jump wonders like myself. I modified my own 5-LL and actually tied my sleeve on. During this time, many folks didn't have a sleeve retainer because it was considered too unsafe! I can't remember any names. I'll have to find my log book from that period. Thanks for making me think about it!!! Bernie/// Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

You bet! I flew my Cessna 182, N69BS, there for two or three years. In addition to being a jump pilot I also did much of the 'Aircraft Exits' portion of the FJC. Matter of fact, I got my J/M and I ratings at a Pelicanland ICC in 1971. If I recall correctly, that ICC was the first on the East Coast. I flew to the ICC from Millville, NJ with Lenny Potts in N11LP, Ed Leggett and another guy who also got certified at that ICC. What a place! Some of my fondest memories of jumping are of Pelicanland. The only picture I have on line is in an essay I wrote about camera mounting systems. You can see the picture here: http://www.aicommand.com/cam_sys.htm Pelicanland peas visible and the strip and a DC-3 beneath the jumper in red suit and red helmet. I had dinner last night with Terry Crowe who jumped a Pelicanland and worked for Steve Snyder. Terry and I agreed that Pelicanland was our favorite DZ. [I owned three over the years but still like Pelicanland best.] Mike, where are you? Jim MacIntyre, where are you? What a place!!! Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Ha! I'm not DB Cooper but I am the guy who put the above advert in the newspapers. The ad read something like "...Learn skydiving. Course includes: How to hold the attache case in freefall, landings in trees, water and in jail. " You have a pretty fair memory for such an old fart, there Ol' NitroChute. I remember flying for Elek or Steve one weekend after I closed my DZ and saw a copy of that ad on the bulleting board in the old 'dome' building. Man, did I ever laugh after seeing that ad. Truth be told, though, the FBI never actually interviewed me. Some agent-dressed guys came and hung around to see what was up and a couple of guys we thought were FBI went throught the FJC. Matter of fact, I was always kinda pissed that they didn't take me in for questioning. Thanks for reminding me of this. If I can find the ad in my scrapbook in the attic I'll write something up. Terry Crowe says, "Hello!" by the way. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

The English Channel jump was mentioned some time ago here on DZ.com but it looks like the whole idea could become a new parachuting discipline worthy of its own new Forum... Maybe we could start a new accuracy competition from 25 miles out. From the article: "Wearing an aerodynamic suit, and with a 6ft wide wing strapped to his back, he soared across the sea at 220mph, moving six feet forward through the air for every one foot he fell vertically - and opened his parachute 1,000ft above the ground before landing safely." READ MORE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=389357&in_page_id=1770 Some comments by computer geeks: http://science.slashdot.org/science/06/06/06/2023205.shtml Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

As I get older...and I mean OLDER...the more I think about the good old days and the great people I taught to jump and jumped with. [Kind of like the fact that genealogy is most interesting to older people.] I thought it would be interesting to find some ex-students and friends that I jumped with many years ago. I searched DZ.com for a forum to do something like that but I don't see anything. I've scrolled through the "who's on line" and member list but neither tells me much because nearly everyone uses a screen name. Would you old farts find a forum for 'What ever happened to ....?' interesting or worthwhile or too corny to be helpful? Or should I just post here with the names of people I'd like to find and see who pops up? Your thoughts? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I took one *many* years ago. VERY worthwhile. I still have all the materials in my attic. I paid something like $15.00/month for about six months and each month I got a new 'packet' of reading material. The course included a mechanical timer and a battery powered gadget which had an arm which scrolled down the page and forced me to read faster. The scrolling arm was adjustible in speed and a very cool idea because of its simplicity and reliability. It had a rotating threaded shaft on which the arm was threaded. Quite neat. [I'm an inventor so things like that impress me.] One of the main parts of the course was the vocabulary lists. I learned to *really* love reading because the lists went into the etymology of the words. Learning vocabulary is so important if you really want to increase your reading speed because your speed slows WAY down when you don't know the word and the meaning in context. Buy a book like "30 days to a more powerful vocabulary" or any which has a step by step process for learning the words. A daily regimen of learning a word a day *really* helps. [I'm not trying to be ostentatious or pedantic, understand.] Secondly, the course taught me that different material is read a different rates and that, with practice, one can learn to modify the reading speed to the material. One doesn't read a newspaper in the same way you'd read coursework for a class. Only you can decide if the price is right, obviously, but it worked for me. Don't be a cunctator; go for it. A few things you could do: Decrease your TV time and read instead. Decrease your video and computer game time and read instead. Decrease your freefall time and read instead. Well, maybe not the last one...no sense being rediculous about it. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper