NickDG

Check this out. Those poor Sportster guys never catch a break . . . http://www.scootster.com/ NickD

>>it's really hard for me to connect the Chris I knew with the gun-toting, badass in the ABC story

>>There was a guy who ran a jump operation in New Mexico, in the early 80s. John Early. The memory's fuzzy but seems I heard he got busted for 'gun running' and might still be a prison guest somewhere in Brazil. Anyone remember him or know his status?

Booth on the left, of course, and Larry Riddle on the right? No clue on the middle guy. Maybe Dead Tommy? NickD

You may have to watch this twice to figure out what happened . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDfZdfeJ1nc NickD

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/walthandelsman/blog/2007/11/animation_baby_boomers.html NickD

A new extreme sport that entails the ultimate in consequences. And once you're accomplished, you can move up to free bagging! http://www.multimediaempire.net/videos/BACKJUMPING_The_Greatest_Extreme_Sport_on_Earth NickD

>>anyone who was known to have jumping experience and 'disappeared' after the hijacking would have been brought to light, as would anyone with that background who seemed to suddenly have more money than before? This, to me, is still the most puzzling aspect of the whole case.

Aero-Commander . . . NickD

>>Well, Cooper didn't know how to lower the stairs. Having them down on take-off solves that little problem.> My initial thinking is that he wanted to jump right away into a urban/suburban area, not necessarily the heavy woods.

Norm's opening article in every PARACHUTIST was called "On the Wind Line" or something like that, and it was always better than anything Needles ever wrote . . . NickD

The big question, and the one we "might" be able answer if we put our heads together, is what kind of jumper was DB Cooper? 1. Non-Jumper? 2. Experienced Military Jumper? 3. Experienced Smoke Jumper? 4. Experienced Sport Jumper? First let's look at the "experience" aspect of military and smoke jumpers. What is an "experienced" smoke or military jumper exactly - and what kind of experience is it? If talking about your standard issue military or smoke jumpers, either one having 50 jumps would be considered very experienced. Military jumpers might average one currency jump a month, maybe, and smoke jumpers probably the same (during the fire season) not counting actual fire jumps. So even the most experienced of them aren’t all that experienced in a "sport" frame of reference. And all the jumps they make are static line jumps under the supervision of a Jumpmaster. But they both would be experienced enough to know that a freefall jump is a whole different kettle of fish. And I doubt either would try it other than to do maybe a hop and pop. But both would know enough about rough landings under big rounds not to want to try it on the smaller canopies Cooper had, at night, and over that terrain. And I would imagine a smoke jumper would have felt almost naked without the usual protective gear they wear. Also military jumpers make only a few night jumps outside of actual combat jumps, and I doubt if smoke jumpers ever jump at night. No, I don't think Cooper was either of those two types. How about a non-jumper? It's too beyond the pale to even contemplate. It's not a thing a non-jumper would want to even try. Walk into a bank with a note and a gun, sure, jump out of a plane, forget about it. As Instructors we know how hard it is sometimes to get people who want to jump – to jump. And never mind he wouldn't have had a clue about the gear. No, not a wuffoe. Experienced sport jumper? The biggest argument against this (I believe) is an experienced jumper would have brought his own gear aboard in a kit bag. Or, at the very least, would have been much more specific in the type of gear he asked for. So what does that leave us with? I think Copper had just enough jumps to be dangerous and we all know that type. He was someone with just enough jumps to do it, but not enough jumps to know how stupid his plan was. I'd look for a military or smoke jumper who washed out after only a few jumps, or a student sport jumper who got the "bowling speech" around the time of his first freefall. Being kicked off the DZ, or washed out of airborne or smoke jumper status can create a disgruntled type with something to prove. "I'll show them I can jump . . . NickD

>>It was dark, the chute would have instantly disappeared from his sight the moment he let go of it.

>>I had also heard that because the chest pack was a dummy chute, that somehow it wouldn't attach properly to the good chute (I also don't necessarily believe this, though I don't know enough to dispute it).

I think the theory that Cooper wore the dummy reserve is wrong. Any reserve container would have impeded his tying the money sack to his chest area. He may have reasoned the money sack would have been in the way of the reserve (making it useless) anyway so he threw the dummy chute out the door and just went with the main and the money. I've made plenty of jumps like that – only without any money . . . Plus, he needed the suspension lines from the good reserve to tie up the money. If we concede that Cooper was a desperate man as only such a man would contemplate a scheme like this, then jumping without the reserve would have been just one more small step in a plan already jam-packed with risk. NickD

First time I've seen any of the gear . . . and I think Ckret agent man too Click on the video. http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_110107INK_cooper_chute_KS.1cbb87e02.html NickD

NickD

>>Does not cover damage done to other USPA members property?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22217855/ NickD

>>Nick, 8 static lines?

Yes, I remember years back reading about guys from the barnstorming era like Leo Valentie and almost all those stories ended with, "Died with his wings on." And then look what happened to poor ol' Burt Lancaster! So I never wanted anything to do with wingsuits . . . However, I have to admit modern jumpers have worked out most of the bugs. They are doing some amazing things on the DZ and also in B.A.S.E. jumping. There's a recent book out right now by Mike Abrames, on the history of wingsuits, it’s here if your interested . . http://www.amazon.com/Birdmen-Batmen-Skyflyers-Wingsuits-Perfected/dp/1400054923/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197508951&sr=1-1 NickD

I think we all bought into the "myth" that worms and viruses are written by some bored 16-year old in Germany. MacAfee, Norton, and the rest just make too much of killing every time there is a new "scare." So I'm pretty sure they are burning both ends of the candle . . . NickD

Once I was up with my friend Ralph and we were just tooling around in his 172. I was in the right seat when all of sudden the windscreen failed (the windshield) and all hell broke loose. In the midst of all the flying dust and debris clogging our eyes the headliner came down over our heads. We were like two one legged men in an ass kicking contest after that. It was a very interesting ride back to the airport . . . NickD

>>Jeez, how did we survive?

I don't get it . . . This kind of backhanded "theft" seems rampant in this sport. One time back when Day Pacs that looked like rigs were cool I designed one that looked like a Velcro closed BASE container. I advertised it in my BASE Magazine, the Fixed Object Journal, and used it at the Perris DZ were I worked. A few weeks later the new Square One Catalog came out and it included my BASE Day Pac. When I confronted Tony at SQ1 about it he blew me off with, "Hey, that's how it is in the sewing biddniss!" As it wasn't patented it wasn't llegal but it stunk to high heaven nonetheless . . . I'm sure HH put an effort into his logo, and it means something to him, and it should be respected as such . . . NickD