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I still think Cooper knew that the 727 could deploy its ventral stairs in flight. He wanted them left down on takeoff either to to facilitate a very quick exit or to mask his exit point, but he did not appear to panic when informed that they had to be stowed up for takeoff. Very few people knew that a 727 could be jumped in 1971. If Cooper knew, how did he know? I think there is a Boeing connection somewhere. I know I am repeating myself but I think the FBI might not have run the Boeing matter into the ground in 71. And since I am repeating myself, might as well mention the money find again. It smells fishier than a dead mackerel to me. Why no news from the money analysis? There was a hint that the money analysis does not support the finders' story. That would not shock me. And Jo, come on, give Sluggo permission to put the scans up on this forum. If you are seeking truth and justice then show your cards. If the mighty Sluggo Monster is sticking his neck way way out defending you, give him some support. Look how hard he got hit already. I welcome your presence here Jo but I am not brave enough to defend you in a post as Sluggo was. Give him something to work with. It's only fair. Come on Ckret, show us that Hollywood has not seduced you. Post something back here in your Internet hood where you used to roll before the limos showed up. 377

Come on Jo, give Sluggo permission to post the scans he mentioned. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Good point Snow. I keep forgetting about the bulk and weight of the money. You wouldn't want to be walking around that night carrying bulky evidence which could convict you... yet another argument for Cooper possibly being a smoke jumper. They have to pack all their gear out with them and they dont carry all of it (e.g. parachute rig) with them when they are fighting fast moving fires. They know how to get back to a spot without GPS and retrieve stuff. And Jo, I have yet to see evidence that Calif State Prison inmates were ever recruited as smoke jumpers. Firefighters yes, smoke jumpers no. Have you found any proof? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

What is the terrain like where Cooper jumped, taking in to account Sluggo's awesome course and track corrections? Are there good sized rocks in that landscape where Cooper could have moved one and stashed his rig under it? Is there really thick underbrush which could conceal a rig with a deployed canopy? If Cooper had jumped before he'd know how to field pack the canopy and daisy chain the lines to get it back (mostly) into the container for visual concealment. That OD surplus gear really blends in with brush. He apparently didn't jump with a shovel so burying a rig would be hard and time consuming. Just pondering things. We know for sure a rig left the plane. Where did it end up? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

377 is right. I've never seen my reserve. I presume it's white, but it may be bright pink, like one of my ex-teammate's. I trust my rigger. (It's a small community here, he has to be trustworthy!) Hey -- I just realised. Cossey's first name was Earl. My rigger also has a 4-letter 1st name starting with E. It even has an r in it too. Is there a link? PINK RESERVE? OMG, good thing Agent Orange is female. I know some guys who would consider cutting away from a pink reserve and dieing rather than landing it. Symbolic chroma-homophobia is alive and well on most DZs. Check the classifieds. Pink anything is heavily discounted in used gear. Limited market. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

A lot of C 9s were four color, orange being one of them. Is it possible Cossey was wrong about the color? I was told that I had an orange PD reserve by the guy who sold me my used rig. It was gray/silver when I cut away and deployed it. It had the right serial number, but even the original owner was mistaken about its color. Quite a few jumpers never see their reserves. They just drop off a packed rig and pick up a packed rig. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I've been thinking about an off DZ landing. Most sport jumpers' off DZ landings are made near the DZ so they know the general terrain. Cooper's was different, a real crap shoot. That would be less daunting to a paratrooper or smoke jumper. I made a late evening balloon jump at WFFC. The winds took us many miles from the DZ. Picking out a landing spot in dusk lighting was a bit scary, unseen power line fears being the driver. A night jump from a jet over unknown terrain in winter would scare any rational skydiver. It would terrify a non jumper. A paratrooper or smoke jumper is a lot more acclimated to that kind of situation, i.e. jumping into hazardous conditions. Assuming Cooper deployed and landed safely what did he do with the canopy? Would he really care if it was found days later? I would think all he'd need to do is cover it enough to escape immediate detection. Too heavy and unusual to pack out. You wouldn't want to be seen with anything parachute related after the news broke. I wonder if Cooper's canopy is still out there somewhere? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Orange's Law (or, to be technically correct, theorem): A million monkeys hammering a million typewriters for a million years will eventually come up with a credible suspect for the DB Cooper case. I think Sluggo's monkey did that a few posts back, vertically no less. One monkey in a million is better than a million monkeys, especially if you have to clean up after them. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Ah come on - instead of picking on my poor choice of words (remember I am the bimbo here) do your thing regarding the post below. We have a crime to solve. Snowmman I feel you are wasting your time regarding licenses,etc. Ckret is right - they did thoroughly check-out the known jumpers - those with a licenses and anyone logged in. Hence, WHY they decided his exposure was military or some form of illegal activity - such as drugs. What they did NOT look at was private planes and private jumpers doing their OWN thing. If you have a pilot and a plane with one experienced jumper - he would be able to teach this person without anyone knowing. You would need a pick-up person, but that person might just be an errand boy who has no knowledge of any rules or regulations...which by the way were ignored most of the time in rural areas. From what I found yrs ago this was not WELL regulated and the scenario I just described happend many times. MN was famous for such antics as was Florida and Mexico - lots of drug smugglers out of Casa Grande area. These individuals stole planes in the states and flew them into S. America to be sold, plus they would also pull off bringing drugs back the same way...sell the plane and make the buy and get the dope back into the states...hence two planes, but they did not want to jeopardize the legal plane so the drug carrier jumps with the booty on American soil. In the beginning of my search I was contacted by someone who remained anonomous as I had been making inquiries involving Casa Grande and ariplane thefts prior to 1971. This all came up in my search for Ed and because Duane had mentioned Casa Grande in relation to an individual whom I had asked the FBI to check - the CA man whose name I will not repeat as he was a member of the family, but they never did. I was ignored - this was yrs and yrs ago before I went public. Some of these operations came out of WA, OR UT and ID areas. To steal a plane it took a mechanic and a pilot to do this. If they were training a rookie - they also taught him how to bail if something went wrong - and to make the drug drop on the return. These guys had communication skills not used by the general public. This is where the focus should be to find - Cooper or who he was. So CKret if you are reading this perhaps you need to dig back thru the file and find this information I provided to the FBI. As I have said KISS. You guys and the FBI try to complicate things. Of course, if my scenario is correct they are all dead and gone - but, from the story I was told by Duane and if the FBI had checked out a specific individual I directed them too - maybe they would have found something over 12 yrs ago - when I first contacted them. Copyright©2008 by Jo Weber Jo is right. Planes were stolen for drug running. A lot of Beech 18s had heavy forged chains and padlocks around their prop hubs in the 1960s and 70s to deter theft. A few jumpers with high value drugs made night jumps with stuff strapped to them, with a few highly publicized fatalities (one was even a lawyer as I recall) . Lower value drugs (pot) were just dropped some with chutes some without. Early AADs (Sentinels) were used to allow high altitude drops and low altitude openings for heavy bundles. NOTHING however connects Duane with ANY of these clandestine enterprises. "Duane knew a plane mechanic" does not meet the standard of proof required. Just about everyone knows a plane mechanic. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote: The FBI investigation of Duane Weber flyes in the face of Truth and Honor and what this Nation stands for.*** Really???? Flag wavers for Duane. Bong hits for Jesus. It all makes sense on this forum. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jumping alone is definitely safer. Landing alone would be too. I have anecdotal evidence that the arrival of a new hot whuffo girl at the DZ causes a rise in landing injuries. Every guy tries to outswoop the last guy and pretty soon kaboom. Seen it happen twice! 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

www.ebolamonkeyman.com website has been called racist, but it sure wastes the time of these 419 scammers. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote: Might not have been considerate Jo, but hardly unethical. Convictions and sentences are public records! Besides, it wasn't intentional and Ckret even apologized. Just because you choose to ignore the past acts of those you love, you cannot reasonably expect everyone else to keep their heads in the sand. Duane was a criminal, there were victims, harm was done. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

The Cooper forum is an engine. You just explained the combustion cycle quite nicely! 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Gosset has been largely ignored by the FBI. That's a pretty strong indication that he might be Cooper. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

This man puts Duane in the area - WA, OR, ID and Alaska - in association with planes and helicopters - it may not mean jumping, but something else said might indicate this. I have NEVER offered this as proof, but feel the proof lies within his relationship to this man and what they did. BUT the FBI doesn't care.They just keep waiting until the individuals have died off one by one. Makes you wonder if someone is not gathering information so they can make lots of money after all involved have deceased. Jo, Like Ckret or not, his career choices certainly do not indicate that money is his top priority. FBI SAs don't starve, but they make far less than their counterparts in industry and definitely face more risk. Solving the Cooper case would be the pinnacle of ANY detective's career. It is way bigger than winning gold at the Olympics. NORJACK is the whodunnit of the 20th century, not just of the year 1971. Ckret wants to solve this case as badly as you do, he just thinks their are potential solutions which do not involve Duane at all. You apparently don't. It isn't like the FBI ignored you, they did some investigation of Duane but found nothing promising which would justify further work. I am certain that if you come up with something SOLID linking Duane to Cooper they will take it seriously. So far, I haven't seen anything that rises to that level. Nobody has positively ruled Duane out, but few other than you consider him a viable suspect. Gosset is a better match. McCoy would have been perfect, but he had an alibi that the FBI said was solid. Both men had jumped and had military training. You have yet to put Duane anywhere near a chute. The hardware you mentioned but could not find a match for might have established that link, but you have been unable to ID it despite seeing a lot of pix of just about everything metallic on a surplus rig. I like having you on the forum. Your single minded pursuit of your goal despite attacks, meanness or adversity is something to see. The word undaunted comes to mind. I just get unglue-oned when you imply that the FBI is suppressing evidence that links Duane to Cooper. That makes ZERO sense to me. OK, I have calmed down now. Nurse, there is no need for the Thorazine, really. Just put that needle away please 377 rational night clerk to the masses 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I'm not inclined to restore the status of someone that attempts to get around the system by creating duplicate accounts. That's bullshit. If he wants to participate, he can ask, but trying to get around a ban by doing something that is against the rules isn't the way to go about it. OK Zing, supplicate and return. Don't let pride keep you away. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

...and then we come along in the 60s and make it "sky lepers". 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Georger (and Zing), My first jump in 68 was a solid night jump. It was well after sunset and quite dark when I landed. One delay lead to another, girl before me froze on the strut, etc. Gluons??? Is that what makes adhesives fight gravity? Hey, EEs just skim physics, you know that Georger. If I am only a decade behind the times that's ok. It takes twice that long for any new ideas in physics to have a practical application so no pragmatic harm in lagging. Zing, can you apply for a pardon and rejoin the forum? Your symptoms are puzzling in light of your good test results. Did they rule out ventricular arrythmias? People shouldn't get too hung up on PCA or USPA rules as a reliable indicator of jump behavior. They are often ignored. Logbooks have been faked. Jumpers do all sorts of jumps regardless of rules or even common sense. A high school kid jumped into our stadium during a night game in the 60s. Insanely risky jump and against all the rules, but he did it. Bring Zing back!!!!! 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I made one jet jump from a DC 9 and six high speed tailgate jumps from turboprops, CASA 212 and C 130. No big difference between the jet and prop exits. It's mostly about airspeed and not airplane or engines. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Cooper's flaps, altitude and speed requests (if accurately reported) argue against a couple of the alternatives above. They say Cooper knows something about planes. They hint Cooper knew about dropping stuff from planes. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

And how would Cooper know that 727s weren't manufactured with a device preventing in flight ventral door/stair deployment? Just seeing the door open on the ground tells you zero about possible in flight interlocks. The Cooper Vane is an easily visually spotted external mod, but Boeing could have gone for an electronic solution taking info from the air data computer and using it to lock the door. I still think Cooper KNEW he could jump the 727. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I KNEW there just had to be some Lovecraft fans here. Hastur it is. I must consult my Necronomicon tonight and see what it reveals. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Old jumpers just THINK that they know all the old jumpers. It is an illusion that I suffer from. It was brought home to me recently when someone mentioned a jumper who was a constant and large presence on my DZ in 68. I had TOTALLY forgotten about him because there had been no intervening reminders, no logbook entries or old photos with him in it. Had you asked me if I could name the top ten RW jumpers on my DZ from back then I would have said absolutely yes, but I would have unknowingly omitted him and picked number 11 for the empty slot. People can slip through the cracks of the human memory. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

OK, so how many skydivers here really DID know who Pynchon was? Gore Vidal has made the comment that comparing Pynchon to James Joyce is like comparing a kindergartener to a graduate student. Vidal was just being his usual self, an effete snob. Like to see James Joyce write a tech report on a Bomarc missile. Given the choice, I'll bet James Joyce would have rather shared a pint with Tom Pynchon than Gore Vidal. Who among us has or seeks a Ph.D. from Miskatonic University? Just trying to scope out the DBC forum's literary landscape. Oh, and what's the latest on the NIGHT CLERK? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.