Guru312

Wow! You must be having a really bad because of all the rain. Bad guy? I don't know about that. Anger issues? Maybe. I've been kicking around the parachuting business for a very long time. I've been a DZO of three separate locations. I flew at Pelicanland for a few years in the mid-1970s. I write the above simply to give you background on my experience. Can I characterize your comments as being from a "bad guy", no I can't. But I can offer my opinion that I think you are doing yourself no favors at all by using words and having an attitude like you express in your response to 3331. I've been involved with jumping at all levels for a very long time. I think that gives me the experience to write that you are creating what I would consider a piss-poor public image... and a HUGE disservice to your operation. My comments are simply to point that you have what I consider very poor public relations skills. And to mention that my daughter...who can't wait to jump...will not be jumping at your operation, no matter what your price, because you have such a terribly piss-poor attitude. Your response makes you seem to have a problem with anger. I'd rather not have to deal with someone like yourself, with that attitude, when my daughter's safety is in your hands. Your attitude also leads me to think why you are running a strictly tandem operation: Experienced jumpers wouldn't put up with an attitude like yours. I sure would not. My guess is you won't take kindly to my comments when all I'm attempting to do is ask, "Do you think your attitude is going to be conducive to building a business?" Maybe you can factor in the comments made by some experienced jumpers up thread...and learn something. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

After reading your totally self-defeating, vitriolic response to someone who quite obviously doesn't think too much of your operation, I am at a loss as to whether you have an operation at Ridgely. I stopped by a month or so ago and found no parachute operation at all; only an ultra-light operation. Is *your* operation running a tandem operation at Ridgely or not? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

The only person who would take that position is one of the whuffos. Thousands of jumpers could make the jump...and walk away...with the money. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

As a ham for over 55 years, I feel compelled to break my silence--without using code or cipher--to comment that without the wit and intelligence of Farlung and Georger and a very short list of other posters, this thread would be totally useless. Keep up the good work, guys, at least I get a lot of laughs from y'all. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Well, yeah, that about sums up my first 100 jumps. I made my first sport jump in June of 1960. The Army Team, not then known as the Golden Knights, jumped canopies known as 7 gore TUs. HOT, HOT canopy. Or so we were told. I was in the 82nd ABN but sport jumped with the XVIII ABN Corps SPC. We were not permitted to jump anything "hotter" than a 5 gore double L and were required to jump a T-slot or, at best, a double T while students. We were told the Team was doing a "Baton pass". A baton was a 12-14 inch long cut off broom stick. It seem to me, Steve Snyder and Charlie Hilliard made the first baton pass in '58 or '59. When I touched anyone in freefall it was pretty by mistake. When I find my log books I'll know how many attempts I made to hookup with someone. RW? That was a late '60s term. I find it hard to believe anyone was doing RW in the '50s. I'm getting old so it could be my memory As they say, "Them were the days..." PS: After reading the above, I'm wondering how far off I am in a time-line. Can anyone older...and with a better memory...confirm first RW? I just googled Snyder's name so at least I'm remembering that part of history somewhat correctly. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I visited there about two months ago. It was a terrible experience for me. The only thing still there which reminded me of the "old days" was the cinderblock building Mike Schultz used as his tool store and shop and the tree Jim McIntyre used for training students in canopy control. Everything else was different. Of course, it was over 35 years since I flew there so one would expect some changes. There was an ultralight operation with about 3 or 4 people hanging around waiting for a tow to altitude. There were two sets of T hangers and some other changes. The horse is gone from the East end of the runway. (I always felt so sorry for that horse every time I flew over it.) The corn fields are gone; the runway is paved; and there is an actual parking lot. If you are thinking of going back...don't. Remember the words of Thomas Wolfe, "You can't go home again." My memories of Pelicanland are all wonderful. What place!! And all because of the wonderful people. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Excellent. +1 Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

NO! NO! NO!, Bob, please don't leave. Your crazy story gives balance to all the other crazy stories. You are entertaining; the responses you evoke are more entertaining. You rub everyone the wrong way...that's a good thing. Question authority at every opportunity. Personally, I think you should sit down some evening and compose a time-line for what you are claiming. Names of places, people and events. From the beginning. One post, inclusive of your entire argument with as much detail as possible. Explain why you can't divulge certain names. Exactly why for each name. After you write it...do it off line and upload later...sleep on it and revise in the morning. Don't just send it off. Plan. Give it a try. You'll piss off hundreds of people, maybe a few thousand, with just one post. I'll keep checking every few days. Give it your best shot. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

It may be an option for you but I VERY seriously doubt it's an option for him. It sure isn't for me! With his two digit D license I think he'd rather jump chuteless... and make it his very last. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

You disappoint me, george; you of all people should know that a "light year" is a unit of distance not one of time. Or was that some sort of CETIian humor that escapes even me? Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Thanks for the links. Reading about Soss and anything Herd is better than working. I was hoping to make the reunion last year but something got in the way...probably reality. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

What would you expect when you've arrived so late to the party? We read it; no reason why you shouldn't. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I don't know why I even came back into the Cooper Vortex. I'll deal with myself tonight during my nightly flagellation for that dumbness. For someone in the publishing business your knowledge of copyright is extremely shallow. Here is the deal, given your confusion on who is who and what in this mess, you have no idea who owns the copyright to the pictures. Even *IF* Christiansen is the subject of the pictures the likelyhood of the family holding the copyright is slim to none. Photograph copyright is owned by the photographer not the subject. Why am I making a fuss about this? Because, YOU, Blevins, have the audacity--chutzpah is a better word--to put a copyright statement on photographs for which you obviously do not own the copyright. You must be trying to impress someone, somehow. If you were paying attention, you'd realize that the impression you are making is certainly not favorable. I'm bringing this up because of the ridiculousness of your stand on the DB issues. If you can't get correct something as simple as who owns a copyright maybe you are in the wrong business. It should be clear to everyone that you are here to sell books; not to figure out the mystery of DB Cooper. Your arrogance is the issue. Prove you own the copyright to pictures or take your claim to copyright off of them. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

No, the next time someone sends you photos DO NOT attach a bogus copyright to them. Unless the photographer transferred the copyright to you or your company neither you nor your company own the copyright to the pictures. My guess is that you are guilty of a crime--maybe a federal crime?!--by claiming copyright for something which is not yours. Jeesh, Blevins, for someone concerned about your copyrighted material you certainly have a strange attitude toward the copyrighted material of others. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

It's very clear to me. It says: "Goodbye, Blevins!" Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I agree. But this does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_9th_Company Maybe Blevins can explain the time line for when the American Airborne outfits transitioned from a letter, or phonetic, for company designation...such as "Foxtrot Company" to a number designation, like "9th Company". I'm sure Matt can chime in and tell us when the 101st Airborne changed over. I can tell you it didn't happen during my time in the 82nd Airborne. I can't imagine the Americans wanting to copy the Russians. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Why don't you post a link...or source...to prove that Adventure Books now owns the copyright to the pictures that were most likely taken before you or your associates were born. Maybe you should contact your cheap working attorney and have him explain copyright law to you. An explanation...or source...of how the pictures depict "paratrooper" training would be interesting to see, also. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

What he said! The younger jumpers have no idea about some of the stupid shit we did. I don't know if Fang was a Herd member but he probably tutored most of them. I told Joe in a PM how much I enjoyed hanging out with Fang. Soss and Fang were two of the people I always looked for at a Herd Boogie. Those days will never be again... Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

We'll have to wait until Airtwardo sees this thread to read about the many things that go wrong on a demo...I'm sure he has dozens of stories. I have one that I told long ago in a thread far away. Back in the mid-1970s, I was flying jumpers in my Cessna 182, N69BS, at Pelicanland in Ridgely, MD. [Although I do love flaunting the number, it actually has a connection to the story.] One of the Pelican jumpers had a gig where he billed himself as "Parachute Man". His name is Pat Mulhern. Pat was approached by the Philadelphia Phillies to jump into Veteran's stadium in Philadelphia with the ball for the season opener. At the time, very few legal demo jumps into sports stadiums had been done and none had ever been done within the Philadelphia GADO jurisdiction. Pat filed all the proper paperwork and got all the approvals he needed for two separate jumps into the stadium. Since I was pilot in command I made sure everything was in order. The FAA GADO and the Phillies business and legal department wanted to be sure the jump could be done safely...prior to the stadium being full of 45000 Phillies Fanatics. The practice jump, a week or so before the actual one, went smoothly and Pat did a stand-up landing two feet from second base. Everyone was pleased. On the day of the jump I was flying jumpers in Maryland about 75 miles south of Philadelphia. During my flight into Philadelphia International I contacted ATC and was cleared into the airport. During my conversations with ATC I told them that I was flying the jump plane which was going to drop a jumper into the stadium. The whole operation was quite tight and actually needed considerable coordination because the stadium was less than two miles from the airport and close enough to the approach/departure paths that all traffic was prevented from landing or taking off during the jump. I departed from the Philly airport and circled above both the airport and the stadium as I climbed to altitude. Airliners were landing and taking off during my climb out. Obviously, I was in continual contact with both the tower and ATC during my climb. I told them when I was at jump altitude of 8000 and waited for clearance while making rather tight turns over the spot. When I got clearance Pat stuck his foot out the door, popped his M-18 smoke and waved goodbye. I watched him fall while in a tight descending turn as I contacted the tower with "jumper away". As I circled above the stadium and got low enough to see the flags around the upper perimeter I realized that Pat wasn't going to make it in. He finally turned away and did a terrible landing in the parking lot with his canopy falling over a line of cars. There was a considerable wind which created really strange winds over the stadium. All the flags seemed to be pointing in different directions. He couldn't get a handle on how to land inside the stadium safely. He opted for the safe and sane way out. He had to carry the ball into the stadium riding on a golf cart instead of hot-dogging it onto second base. Two weeks later I got a certified letter in the mail from the Chief of the Philadelphia GADO General Aviation District Office which is now called FSDO, Flight Standards District Office. It was just my luck that a upper echelon FAA official was in the stadium and filed a complaint against me for allowing a jump "...over an open air assembly of persons." It took me over a month of letter writing, phone calls and personal visits to convince the FAA that the entire jump was approved and sanctioned from the top down to the Control Tower. In fact, during the investigation of the whole debacle it was comments from ATC, the control tower and ground control personnel that kept me from losing my commercial ticket. All of the guys I spoke with and joked about my N-number remembered me and the whole jump... because of the number. Maybe it was my last acknowledgement to the tower, "Roger, 69BS" that helped them remember the jump and the plane. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Talk about trials and errors... I completed jump school with 82nd Airborne in March of 1960. My first skydive was with the XVIII Airborne Corps Sport Parachute Club at Ft. Bragg in June of that year. We were required to learn how to pack our own rigs, and all jumps I made were on my own packing. BUT, in the “interest of safety” , we were forbidden to jump any canopy "hotter" than a "T". Even the "Double L" was too hot for us beginners. The reason: The Army Parachute team--not called the Golden Knights back then--jumped 7 gore TU canopies. We couldn't jump anything like a 7TU. Some time in later 1960 or early 1961 the order was given to allow us to jump a "Double L" and shortly after that we were permitted to jump a 7TU. I'm convinced that the only reason we were prevented from jumping any “high performance” canopies, like a 7LL or 7TU, was because the Team was housed next door to our club house and there was a prestige or appearance issue going on. It certainly wasn't a safety issue! When we were finally allowed to own a rig, I spent about $150 [a fortune in 1961] on a pure white 28' canopy, totally unmodified, but with those really new and fancy things called Capewells. All of my first dozen or more jumps were on canopies without Capewells. I lived off post with my wife in Pinehurst, NC and our landlady was a seamstress who taught me the basics of using a sewing machine....mostly, how to thread the needle and how to untangle the many messes I made while learning to sew. The first thing I ever sewed was the 7 gore TU modifications in that canopy. I was so naïve...stupid is probably a better word...that I didn't realize the thread I should be using was a specific type of Nylon thread known as “Ticket E” thread. Anyone remember that? I decided maybe I should investigate proper materials before I continued the modification process. I finally found the proper thread and the Nylon tape for the mods. Never the less, the sewing job was terrible. Plus, on top of the lousey sewing job, I cut the top of the “U” section too high up, somewhat like Airtwardo describes up thread. I spent many, many hours sitting in my landlady's sewing room sewing the modifications. Whew, was I ever lucky. Many years later, when I finally got my Senior rigger's ticket—and I actually knew something about parachutes and sewing--I shuddered to think about what I did modifying that canopy. I had NO CLUE when I did that! I still have the canopy, somewhere in the attic. Over the years, I've pulled it out to show jumpers my “first rig”. No one believes I put about 100 jumps on it. Let me tell you: raggedy, sloppy, broken stitches, and generally a piss-poor sewing job. Noone would ever jump that rig again...including me. But, hey, I was jumping a rig just like the Army Parachute Team jumped. Those were the days... PS: I hope it's OK that I don't have a D. :) Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

THANK YOU! Money I have, VHS player..Maybe, I gotta look. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I used Carl's "Sky Capers" so much as a promo movie that it got broken and spliced over and over. Finally, unable to watch. If anyone finds a link to Sky Capers please post it. The nostalgia will be enjoyable. I taught more people to jump because of that movie than any other promo that I did as a DZO. RIP, Carl, you were terrific. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Another thing that's simply ridiculous is for me to spend any more time reading this stupid, addicting, inane, asinine, maddening and captivating forum thread. What captivates me most about this thread are the comments from those of you who don't have the balls to jump out of an airplane. [Apologies to Amazon and Orange] I often laugh out loud--and wake up my cat who sleeps next to my laptop--when I read some of the whuffo comments. You whuffos simply do not know what the hell you are talking about most of the time. It is hilarious but no longer worth my time. I spent half a life time, it seems, in parachute jumping and teaching, flying jumpers and owning drop zones. I can assure you that for any of thousands of men or women, the DB Cooper 727 jump is very doable and survivable. But, I don't believe any of us who jump would handle things as DB is reported to have done. To me, his actions smack of a clueless jerk. Anyone with jump experience and planning to make a jump like his would not do so wearing the shoes and clothes that he did. Anyone with military or civilian parachute training would not use "front" and "back" in reference to potential rigs. Putting on a parachute harness is no more rocket science than putting on a pair of pants. Do it twice and you can do it for the rest of your life. Simply visiting any drop zone in the world would give someone the chance to see how to put on a rig of almost any variety. Occam's razor and human nature tells me that no one willing to risk their life jumping from a jet plane two miles high is going to throw away money... for any reason. The found money along the river bank is explainable when certain basic facts are considered. Simply put: He tied the money bag closed securely. He could not tie the bag to his body or the harness securely enough by himself. He jumped. The bag became unattached. The bag protected the money for years. Eventually, the suspension line which secured the bag became separated and the money spilled out. Some money was found. His parachute is still out there...somewhere...opened or not opened. He may have lived; everyone else who has jumped a 727 has lived. Maybe he died. I have lost interest because of the haughty arrogance and mostly clueless nature of the current batch of whuffo participants. The unpleasantness of reading their comments is not worth the laugh I get from doing so. Have fun. Goodbye, DB Cooper... I'm bailing out of here... Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

I, for one, am very glad that you started this topic. Here is a link from the ultimate geek site where it is also being discussed. Maybe some of you will enjoy the links in the synopsis at the beginning. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/229233/why-politicians-should-never-make-laws-about-technology Everyone who uses the Internet really needs to understand SOPA. You also need to contact your representatives and tell them "Vote NO!" Guru312 I am not DB Cooper

Of course. But...we are speaking two different languages: We are speaking Practical Experience and they are speaking Intellectual Hubris. Some of these folks actually believe that a jumper can't recover from a spin without seeing the ground. I personally know dozens, if not hundreds, of jumpers who could make that jump, myself included. I do not believe that DB had *any* practical parachuting experience. He certainly was not special operations trained or he would have planned better. Tying the money bag securely enough to keep it attached during exit and opening shock...probably not. I'm a rigger and I could not tie that money bag to my harness securely without help. I spoke with the president of the company that made the bank bag. During our hour long conversation we concluded that the bank bag could easily stay submerged or in the elements for many, many years. And that's exactly what the evidence indicates: The money survived. My bet is that DB survived because the jump isn't that big of a deal. To the whuffos out there: We may not have the formal education and intellectual fire power that you think you have but we do have vast...and varied... practical experience dealing with jumping out of airplanes. Guru312 I am not DB Cooper