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Sung to Eric Clapton's/Ray Davie's LOLA: Well I'm not the world's most physical guy But when she fell from the sky she nearly blew my mind Oh my Barbara. Well girls will be boys and boys will be girls It's a mixed up, f----d up shook up world c'ept for Barbara. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Just the facts maam... JACK "DRAGNET" WEBB. Do I win a prize? BTW, if Webb survived WW2 combat missions in a Martin B 26, then all his postwar life was borrowed time. That plane killed more of its crews than the Germans ever did. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Your post actually got me laughing Guru. Good one. Let's guess what money surprise Ckret is investigating. The "kid finds money" story isn't 100% accurate? Link between finders and Cooper? They found more money than they turned in? Money was found elsewhere? Come on, let's do what we do best here: SPECULATE!!! Ckret's LA times article makes it clear he still thinks Cooper went in as a no pull. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

What Ckret is too modest to post directly (lifted from LA Times): "If every antihero needs a foil, Cooper has Carr. The agent looks every part the hero, hair trimmed tight, square jaw, tall and broad-shouldered. He was a track star at Florida State University, an All-American in the pole vault. At 41, he looks fit enough to jump today. He has served in a K-9 unit, worked as a bodyguard for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and, for a short time, as an air marshal." Pretty damned cool resume I'd say. James Bond lives in Seattle. Ckret's tantalizing hint about the money has got us all waiting... Any bets on what he will tell us? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I keep wondering why I read this dang thread 2-3 times a day!! Me too, but I think I have figured it out. We amateur sleuths get to be on the front lines of a major unsolved crime. In notoriety it rivals the Tate/ La Bianca Manson killings, the SLA Patty Hearst kidnapping, and other headline grabbers. Those got solved. While they were hot and unsolved, regular folks like us played no significant role unless we were fact witnesses. The pros rightfully had center stage in the investigations. Cooper is stale, but it is still a big deal. Because it is so stale, only one pro, Ckret, is paying much attention to the case these days. We get to have a direct ongoing dialog with the FBI agent assigned to the case and although we may never solve it, we are coming up with some interesting ideas. That is unique on a big national case and that's what makes it appealing. That's why we keep coming back to read and make posts. We amateur sleuths get to be directly involved in trying to solve one of the 20th century's major who dunnits. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I think even if Cooper had never jumped before, if he pulled he lived. Just a hunch. I could very easily be wrong. I have jumped rounds, a jet, surplus rigs, had hard pulls etc etc. Whether or not he pulled is subject to really serious debate. It wouldn't be easy, not one bit. Night, cold, tumbling, afraid, a REALLY hard pull which might make you think you were pulling on the wrong thing and move your hand off the ripcord handle, etc etc. Look how many highly experienced jumpers have gone in with a no pull post cutaway on nice sunny days. Some of them went in pulling on the harness, some of them tumbled and never pulled anything, some of them seemed disoriented and went in stable. With street clothing, a flapping money bag, and an almost certain wildly unstable exit, it was not just a simple look, grab and pull. It was dark, the handle may have been obscured by clothing or his cargo and he would have been very disoriented and scared. Hell, I would have been very disoriented and scared under those circumstances even with jump experience. When you panic, you don't perform well and can fixate on one thing that does not offer a solution for the problem immediately at hand. We should get Brian Germain to post. He has studied fear and jumping and how performance is affected. I doubt if fear makes you do anything better on a skydive. I used to think Cooper had to be a skydiver, but Ckret convinced me otherwise. Problem with that is that the Cooper universe is now expanded from a very small part of the population, skydivers, to a population of potential suspects orders of magnitude larger. One of these days the crime will be solved, but not by me. It is a fascinating subject and the number of hits on this forum topic tells me many others share the fascination. Carry on, we have a crime to solve. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, Go ahead, scan and post it. I still don't know what to make of it, but commutation isn't the usual deal for sure. I wonder if there are any surviving records from the Governor's clemency office detailing why the commutation was issued? Couldn't Duane's covert stuff, name change, fear, etc all be consistent with is having bought the commutation with testimony against someone big and then living in fear of retribution? I know you are 100% certain Duane was Cooper. I disagree, but I haven't ruled him out 100%. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I don't think Duane Weber was Cooper, but I no longer think Cooper had to be a skydiver or military jumper. The fact that nobody can connect Duane with a chute doesn't rule him out in my revised book. The idea that Duane was some sort of spook or government operative seems pretty far fetched to me. Choosing convicts for such critical roles doesn't make a lot of sense. Still, I'd like to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the commutation of his sentence. First, we don't yet have proof that it occurred, but if it did it is quite unusual and bears further scrutiny. Commutation requires the Governor's approval. It isn't given lightly because it can backfire big time politically if an early released prisoner does something bad. If Duane was a nobody, why would the Governor's office intervene to get him an early release? You generally have to give something of value to get a break like that, often testimony against someone big who they are trying to put away. You won't get a sentence commuted for nothing, at least not from what I have seen. It can be testifying for the prosecution, or political connections (look at Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence), but it isn't done for nothing. A commutation sure isn't evidence that Weber was Cooper, they are orthogonal. It is curious though and the more we know about Weber the more certain we can be about whether he is or is not connected to the Cooper case. If he is connected, I will be very surprised since I have seen no solid evidence linking him to the crime. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Got it. My local surplus store has 6 foot ribbon rounds used for mine laying. Would be good for "cargo" too. Saw some brand new "26 ft military conicals" on eBay once, really cheap. Bought one out of curiousity, turned out to be some weird modern hybrid ribbon lower part/conical upper part, reinforced with Kevlar, used to recover Navy cruise missiles for re-use after flight tests. To be fair, the seller did say that they were not suitable for jumping but I was naively expecting a NOS Navy conical. My friend calls them great ex wife canopies. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

18 ft??? typo? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Not a Navion. Got my first airplane ride in a Navion. Love em. A friend had a Navion that made a dead stick landing in a remote cow pasture back in the 60s. Engine threw a rod and was not repairable. They came back a week later and the cows had chewed the structure to the point where repairs were not worth doing. I didn't believe it until he showed me a photo. I could see maybe a fabric plane being munched, but not a metal one like a Navion. "The cows ate my plane", sounds like "the dog ate my homework." 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Howard, How did you get such a collection of rare jumpship photos?? I even poured through my old Janes volumes and cannot identify that little plane. It looks a bit like one made in the UK, but not a match. There is a guy on here who managed to bribe his way into a TU 95 Bear jump in the old USSR. Sure wish there were a photo of that! Bear is like a turboprop B 52 for those unfamiliar. I almost got to jump with some military friends from a USAF HC 130, but the aircraft commander killed our plan before takeoff, wisely thinking that if anyone got hurt he'd be flying a desk for the remainder of his career. I have heard that other jumpers have been successful in sneaking onto military jumpships. Not me. At Pope valley CA in the 70s we used to get an occasional ANG Huey helo landing for lunch. We all begged to ride the skids up to 2500 but they refused. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I was proposing something to help prevent those fatalities where the jumper is incapacitated by the spin forces and cannot cut away. Some jumpers with small canopies have goine in unconscious in high rate spins. Maybe deploying a reserve with an AAD would be risky but it is better than a certain fatal impact if nothing is done. I am a big fan of Skyhooks after seeing some SCARY low low intentional Skyhook cutaway demos at WFFC. Man they got an open reserve F A S T!! I swear they were less than 300 ft when they cutaway. Just wish Skyhooks were approved for Eclipse and Reflex, which unfortunately will never happen as mfrs are out of business. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I remember those Sentinels. A real income provider for riggers as MANY students forgot to turn them off after opening. I never did, couldn't afford to back then. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Wish it was still supported. Just a shame that there aren't cheap alternatives to the $1000 class of AADs. I cringe to think of a newbie with no money going in because he couldnt afford an AAD. Sentinel Mk 2000s were not smart AADs and could be fooled by todays flight regimes, but they'd be OK for belly flying students who don't do hook turns. When I started jumping I couldn't even afford an altimeter ("one thousand, two thousand") or even high jumps back when you paid by altitude. I was lucky and lived long enough to see better times. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I do see your point Bill. I guess every new sensor or algorithm introduces a new misfire or no fire possibility. At one WFFC I spoke to the SSK guys. They told me the Cypres 1 actually had unused parts of hardware and software that were originally designed to interface with the cutaway system. KISS won out. As far as KISS goes, nothing could have been simpler than the SSE Sentinel Mk 2000 AAD. No software, no semiconductors, nothing more than two AA batteries, a cartridge, and a rate switch in series with an altitude switch. If below X and falling faster than Y, circuit to explosive cartridge completed and pin puller extracts reserve pin. Probably was OK for belly flying and round canopies. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Anyone communicated by ham radio in freefall or under canopy? That would sure shake up some of the old geezers on the local repeater. Mark AF6IM 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I have read several fatality reports where a jumper went in under a fast spinning canopy with no AAD fire. Descent was too slow to fire the AAD, but too fast to permit a survivable landing. How about adding a force sensor and software that would sense a prolonged constant high centrif. force below a certain altiude and fire? I know you'd have to figure out ways to avoid having it fire in an intentional high speed turn, but maybe someone can figure it out. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I heard that the guy at PARATRONICS in TX who serviced them post SSE died a couple of years ago. I think the Sentinel AADs are orphans now. I dont know where you would get new cartridges for the pin puller or loop cutter (if they ever made a loop cutter?). 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Ram airs are the right canopy for commando stuff, but can you imagine a mass S/L paradrop with squares? I think there is a reason that the Airborne still uses rounds for paratroop drops. I really like rounds, but more for the "back in the day" memories that I associate with them than for their performance. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

************ Most photos are old WW2 Consolidated Aircraft factory photos (guess 1942) showing B 24 bomber production. In the 60s Convair (successor to Consolidated) was making and modifying military and civil aircraft in their San Diego factory. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I don't know why, but they apparently did. I have a friend who is an aviation author. Tipped by a reader of his books, he saved a carload of CONVAIR company history from a dumpster, including many rare photos. It sickened him to see what they were tossing out. Maybe personnel records were saved but he said to him it looked like a wholesale dumping of files of all kinds. I have worked on mergers where all they save from the target company are the basic corp records. Old employment files are shredded. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, Zero hits on San Diego Aircraft. CONVAIR was the only major aircraft mfr in San Diego area in the 60s. It is now defunct so very little chances of getting any employment info. Most of the company records were destroyed/discarded on shutdown. They made military and civil aircraft including two unsuccessful competitors (Convair 880, 990) to the Boeing 707. Also made the B 58 Hustler supersonic bomber. the F 106 interceptors that chased the Cooper plane and the F 102s that George W Bush flew, on those rare occasions when he showed up for Texas Air National Guard duty. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

You actually do, but I'm guessing you'd rather deal with the devil, satan himself. Actually it is pretty much a waste of time trying to use the courts to make the FBI DO SOMETHING. You can sue for injunctive relief to get them to STOP illegal activities (like certain warrantless snooping), but trying to compel them to do a discretionary act (like providing evidence that Duane was not Cooper or investigating a certain matter) is generally going to be a fruitless waste of money. I am not a cheerleader on fed law enforcement performance, remembering abuses such as Mc Carthy, COINTELPRO, ETC but they do a lot of good things and really shouldn't be operating at the whim of civil litigants who have their own personal investigative agendas. Writs of Mandamus can sometimes be used to compel governmental agencies to perform certain acts, but they would not help Jo get the FBI to do what she wants them to do on the Cooper case. Save your money Jo. Lawyers might take your money but they cannot make the FBI do much more than simply comply with FOIA rules. Find something independent and non subjective that would convince Ckret that Duane was Cooper. If you were able to do that, bet you'd find that he would engage big time. I think there is a substantial possibility that Cooper did not look much like the composite sketch. I have seen a number of cases where the person to picture matches were very poor. The cops nab the right guy (fingerprint match, etc) , but he doesn't look like the sketches prepared in consultation with eye witnesses. Happens a lot. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I wonder if Cooper flushed some evidence? Wonder if the FBI skipped that line of investigation, perhaps intentionally? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.