377

Jo, I don't doubt that Duane told you he knew the person shown on TV, but that doesn't mean it was true. His story about being Dan Cooper raises the same point. If you have ANYTHING connecting Duane to NORJACK show it. Knowledge of the area doesn't prove anything about NORJACK. Put Duane in a chute. Show us a hot twenty. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I see a wave or tidal phenomena on this forum. Slack tide right now. Orange, what does Elliott tell us about this? When will things pick up? I need my DBC fix. Jumping again this Sunday. Great WX and $17 jumps are just too tempting. Flew in the tunnel last night, 14.1 miles from home. The SF Bay Area really is skydive paradise. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I'll give you both: Jo has proof that Duane Weber was Dan Cooper. Is your Lodestar screen name from Lockheed plane of the same name? I loved that plane although it sure had a blemished safety record in jumping. Got some cross country time flying right seat in a Learstar, a go fast mod of the Lodestar. 300 MPH! 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Indeed.

Ventral door is rear of plane on bottom of fuselage. See my exit photo attached. If you look up at the DC 9, you can see the open ventral door. I really don't know what happens on side door exits, I just never paid much attention. Nothing perceivable happens on rear exits through BIG tailgate openings, like on CASAs or SkyVans or C 130 Hercs. The DC 9 opening was quite small in comparison. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

My whoosh thunk isnt very scientific, just trying to approximate the sound and feel of the event. The whoosh seemed to occur as the jumper was transitioning through the hull opening and the thunk happened just after exit. The whole sequence took about 716 milliseconds, which of course is also a guess. You could feel the thunk way forward in the cabin far away from the open ventral door. I never paid much attention to the acoustics of exits prior to this jet jump so I can't really answer your other questions. I remember thinking, as I was still in my seat, "hey, I can count every single jumper exit with my eyes closed." I continued to perceive the whoosh and thunk as I got out of my seat and marched towards the exit with the other jumpers. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

On the unpressurized DC 9-21 jet jumpship the cabin had no rushing air at all, very calm even during jumps. The only anomoly was the "whoosh-thunk" mild but very noticeable presure bumps as each jumper exited. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Absolutely AMAZING. So many things could have gone seriously wrong and none did. Way to go PROSs! How the hell did I miss this? I live 35 minutes from SF and had no clue it was going to happen. Cluelessly, 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Just a guess but I think the stair rebound would create a more noticeable pressure event than an exiting jumper would alone. Cooper's exit may have been the first airborne 727 stair rebound ever. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Tailgate S/L jumps at 8000 ft? Tell us the rest Nigel. What other crazy stuff do you guys do over there? That main body wrap sounds terrifying. Round canopy? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, By most accounts that bomb battery was a large 1.5 volt dry cell. It would not have been suitable for powering a two way radio. Ask any of the amateur radio operators who post here which include all your favorites, even Sluggo, Snow and Georger. You need a higher voltage than 1.5 volts for two way communication radios. I have never seen one that ran on 1.5 volts. 12 volts is common. You could make a converter but it would be a crazy idea with two six volt lantern batteries being widely available and easily connected in series for 12 volts. I'd love to think Cooper had a radio transceiver but I see zero evidence that he did. The battery is not a two way radio battery, believe me. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

C 122 was a very rare predecessor to the C 123. The C 122 was essentially a Chase CG 18 military glider with a couple of engines hung on it. Only about 20 were made. http://www.photovault.com/show.php?cat=Military/AirForce?tg=MYFVolume12/MYFV12P06_15 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Let's see what Nigel says but from my experience (1 DC 9 jet jump on a nice sunny day in Illinois carrying only five twenties) it wouldn't have made much difference if I went out facing forward or rearward. Just get clear of the plane without snagging anything, arch hard to get stable, slow down to terminal velocity and pull. No special exit attitude or posture needed. I looked up after my jet exit and saw a few experienced jumpers go unstable immediately after leaving the plane. Some were flipping and spinning, but they arched and within a few seconds they were belly to earth in stable freefall. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

In jumping a DC 9-21 ventral door (with stairs removed) I still felt very distinct pressure events as each jumper ahead of me left the plane. Not sure of the mechanism, might have been a pressure wave reflection off the body as it hit the sliptream but it was very distinct, not subtle. I felt it way forward in the cabin while I was still in my seat and the first exits had started. Lots of paratroopers on dropzone.com made C 141 side door jumps. Maybe one of them can tell us if there were perceivable pressure bumps on exits. I keep wondering how Cooper planned to get back to civilization without help from an accomplice. Any bedraggled wet hitchhiker at that time would have gathered attention. Hiking all the way to town might also have gathered attention right after the hijack. What was Cooper's egress plan? There were no Hueys on call to extract him. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Orange, as an economist and jumper you'd love this. The DZ just lowered the ticket price to $17 in an effort to get more market share. The benefits of having 6 DZs in the area are amazing. Who in their right mind would be a DZO? I had never thought much about the refueling but it is an interesting point. I wonder if he was guessing on being able to open the 727 ventral door and was thinking about a multi hop Cuba trip if he couldn't exit by jumping? Why would he risk all that ground time refueling if he was planning an immediate jump? So many mysteries and ambiguous clues. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

yup. Ties, it's all about ties. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

yeah, they are passe, but ya can't sit on your couch dressed in CAMMO, watching right wing conspiracy shows on your big screen and gaze at your WiFi router the same way you can gaze upon your open gun safe and savor its manly contents. Snow, we gotta figure out a way to market free speech and communication and make it as appealing as weapons. Any ideas? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Who ya gonna call? FEDBUSTERS! (ACLU) http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/nsa/aclunsa81706opn.pdf 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:-m1S1K765KcJ:www.travisjensensf.com/blogs/bd/2009/08/06/Parachute-Men:-T.DSH.Mobile-takes-to-the-sky/+parachute+mobile&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us Who were the jumpers? 100??? How many really? What planes? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, I doubt if someone as conservative as you could stomach it, but you should join the ACLU. They sue the FBI and other govt agencies all the time over constitutional rights violations and sometimes they win. They do some wacky lawsuits but many address the very issues that concern you. Nobody else takes on the US government with top notch lawyers and pushes the limits like they do. Without legal opposition to govt abuse, the Bill of Rights would be ancient history by now instead of established law. Under most circumstances, cops still need search warrants to enter your house. Were it not for the ACLU, they'd have a set of your keys at the local station and the right to search at will. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

It might already be slander technically, but what damages could Carr prove he has suffered as a result? If the slanderer has minimal credibility among the audience to which the slander was directed, then the damages are arguably "de minimus" i.e. essentially nothing. Jo needn't lose sleep over any possible slander suits. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Having snag points on a helmet exterior can be REALLY dangerous. These snags have proved fatal in a number of cases. Camera flyers live with the risk on every jump. Some mitigate it by installing flush fairings. I think I'll keep the rig in a bag or inside my jumpsuit and figure out some better helmet integrated mic/headphone setup and a remote PTT finger switch. I have no way of measuring Cooper's IQ, just not enough data. I do think he knew that you could jump from a 727. In 1971 few knew that fact. The idea that Cooper was kind of a moron who managed to bumble through the crime and make it all work just doesn't seem like a good fit to the facts. We can go in endless cirlcles about it. The SF SOG guys probably knew about the Air America 727 jumps and they sure had the skills for the NORJACK jump. Whether they'd have poor enough judgment to make the NORJACK jump is an open question. Jerry says no way. I am not as sure. Jo has such an engaging way of telling a story. I can just picture Cooper motoring along in a stolen boat even though there is no evidence that it happened. The idea that Cooper landed in a place where he knew every power line route and could recognize and distinguish between various tower routes is sure one heck of a coincidence. What are the odds? If Jo already has proof that Duane was Cooper why waste time on power line navigation, stolen boats and the like? Jo, just admit you don't have the proof, apologize for making a false claim and we can reset. Until then you can expect continued scrutiny and challenges form me and from others. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

remember that spectacular Airbus hijack that ended up in a flameout over an island resort (Carribean?). The hijacker didn't believe the pilots who told him they had insufficient fuel to reach his demanded destination. The attempted ditching went badly and the plane is seen cartwheeling and breaking up caught on someone's video camera. Hijackers make crazy demands and do crazy things. I think it is very possible that Cooper knew something about parachuting. I am nearly certain that he knew a 727 could be jumped. Without that 727 knowledge you'd be making a very stupid bet. McCoy, from the witness perspective, didn't act so different from Cooper. I don't think we can say jumper or Whuffo. Not enough data. Snow, the jumper training radios are crude. The instructor on the ground has an HT and broadcasts steering and flare commands to the student who has an HT strapped to his chest strap. There are freefall comm systems. See Para Gear website. They cost thousands. 377 will have to copy them for pennies. This loose headset stuff doesn't cut it. Jerry will be encouraged by this. As I unstowed my headset at about 13000 ft I dropped a plug adaptor cord. It was only a foot long. An hour after landing I went looking for it and found it almost immediately in a field. I knew I was above the field when it was lost but there were winds, brush, and a million reasons I should not have found it, but I did! You never know what luck Jerry may have on his Washougal treks. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Yeah, operated on 1282.225 MHz and made some contacts under canopy. Big hassle removing helmet, stowing, unstowing headset, donning it, steering canopy, watching for conflicting traffic etc. A white Cessna flew by me shortly after opening close enough to see the occupants. They didn't see me. Funny, without supplemental oxygen every task seems hard even at only 14000 ft. Need to get everything integrated into helmet, like the military does. I think the Golden Knights shoe photo raises a good point about pants making jump boots look more like casual shoes. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I'll comment on the right hand pulls: surprising given the greatly increased chance for snagging on something. Don't know what to say bout the shoes. Can't see much detail on my monitor. What are your thoughts Snow? Did my first HAHO today from about 14,000 ft. Been jumping for years but always looked at altitude as wasted if not used for freefall. Flying around high up with stowed brakes (slow and quiet) was very peaceful. You see and hear other planes, take in the beautiful CA scenery, even mingle with hawks at lower altitudes. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.