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Bruce, Camping is far safer than going to sea with Captain Blevins. His inflatable raft voyage was very close to fatal. Amazon is an old salt. I am sure she shuddered when reading Blevin's account. I certainly did. JT can give you some backwoods survival guidance. Keep an eye out for parachute hardware. If you are going to Camp Granada G might have some tips. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote Clever way to get an exclusive. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Why use a simulator? Here is a real 727 jump and crash. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYmaP5OKWBQ Think dirt cheap cruise missile. Buy a timed out but ferryable 727 or DC 9 for a few hundred thousand. Install a GPS coupler to the autopilot. Take off, jump and it will go where it is programmed to go in 3D coordinates with high accuracy. Range is about 1500-2800 miles depending on model, weight, etc. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote They are not necessarily connected. A few people here use their real names, post lots of personal info, but do not violate the privacy of other forum members. My boy tells me: "Dad, privacy is OVER. Just get used to it." I fear he may be right. Although I don't agree with GreyCop's handwriting comparison conclusions and he ignores facts such as Cooper not being the person who filled in the name Dan Cooper on the airline ticket, I still marvel at his finding the alleged secret message in the letter addressee writing: "Kenny is Cooper". You can kind of see it just like you can kind of see faces in clouds and even on Mars. Hundreds of people looked at that address and never saw what Paul saw. But now you can see what he saw when he points it out. Maybe it's a clue to how his mind works. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

As stated many years ago, anyone can choose to leave this conversation at any time. That's easy for you to write, Boss, because you aren't addicted to DBcrack. Good one Guru! I can stop anytime I want to. Really! Well just not today... Jane says... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh-5FI21s6M 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo is firmly anchored in the steam age as far as tech goes. I've tried to move her to fast Internet but she has a zillion reasons why she MUST stay with AOL dial up. Jo says she is in her final days and there is much left to research. Talk about a good reason to upgrade your access speed, but NOPE. Wonder if she still has a rotary dial phone? Amazingly landline phone service still responds to pulse dialing. I hooked up and old phone for fun and it still works. The same tenacity Jo shows in her conviction that Duane was Cooper applies to her Internet service preferences. She will go to her grave believing Duane was Cooper and hanging on to AOL dial up. Can you imagine Jo with a laptop and 16MB Internet? Better yet an iPad or equivalent? She'd be a holy terror here, vastly increasing her output of "leads". Maybe we should be thankful that she is throttled back to 56 or 128 KBs. I wonder what GreyCop will do with all his books? I can't see them selling even as price slashed remainders. For his sake I hope he didn't print a lot of copies. His text would make great training material for fledgling editors and proofreaders. Google has good translators for many languages but it cant unscramble GreyCopese. The museum returned my Cooper twenty. They were a class act, insured, prepaid shipping, and very attentive and appreciative. I stare at it a lot, examining every part of the tattered bill, trying to imagine how it got to Tena Bar, but I just can't figure it out. Time goes on and the Cooper Vortex keeps spinning, consuming time, intellectual capital and even money. It's like Old Man River... it just keeps rollin, it don't say nothing. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Bruce wrote You're welcome Bruce. Your post looks remarkably coherent for someone who is kicking back with a bottle of Tequila. You must be just sipping not drinking. GreyCop's publication of G's personal info was way out of line. I won't be putting him on my clemency docket. GreyCop Paul was a puzzle. Almost seemed like someone pretending to be crazy. Anyhow, his mission was completed. He solved the case. Wrote a book. Next stop Hollywood. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote I've seen worse here Jo. This is a dive bar. Shutting it down and opening a new one won't turn it into a high class cocktail lounge. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

G wrote There never was a Cooper. The crew was all in on the scam. What kind of search dogs? Those German Shepard's can be slackers. The canine equivalent of donut cops. They get treats and praise when they indicate detecting drug scents so they quickly learn the game of justifying a search of every stopped vehicle. FBI should switch to Border Collies if they want super smart hard working dogs. But there is a risk. The BCs would be tipping the ACLU on phony justifications for vehicle searches. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Airtwardo wrote The good old days of print journalism. Accountability and integrity. So many journalists have been busted in the last few years for fabricating facts, inventing "composite" people, etc. What happened? I don't recall seeing much of this kind of fraud in my earlier days. Is there a fraud increase or is it just easier to detect now? It's sad when investigative reporters have to investigate investigative reporters. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

CooperSnooper wrote I've looked a lot at my 727 manuals wondering the same thing. I believe the answer is no. I corresponded with two 727 pilots who share the same opinion. The pressure bump from stair rebound strongly suggests Cooper exited aloft. Hiding on the plane would be an extraordinarily risky gamble even if it were possible. Chances of being found would be high in my opinion. Welcome to the forum. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote You've presented no evidence to show ANY Weber connection to 727 jumps. The best you've disclosed is a relative who sold paint to Boeing and one who may have had some schematics or other diagrams from Boeing. Yes, we've ignored the Weber Boeing connections and will continue to do until your evidence matches your claims. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

He did. And as far as the FBI is concerned that rules him out. But what if the tie DNA wasn't Cooper's? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

The Southern Air Transport 727 used by Air America in Thailand for the jump tests was not a military aircraft. The military did own a few 727s but this wasn't one of them. It appears that the stairs were actually removed if you look carefully at the videos and photos of the Thailand jumps. It would be interesting to try a FOIA request to get a look at govt. documents relating to the Boeing flight tests with the stairs deployed. If they did take off tests with the stairs down it might tell us something about where Cooper got the info that it could be done. I have seen no evidence that the Thailand jump test 727 ever took off with stairs deployed. It appears that the stairs were removed for those tests. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Any info on Fremont California? Ex Golden Knight Mike Steele went in there during a bandit quasi AAF jump that went wrong. He saved his student but deployed too low to save his own life. I lived in the area and had no idea that jumps were being made at Fremont. I was jumping at Pope Valley, Livermore and Antioch. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Thanks to the generosity of a respected forum member and fellow jumper, my 727 100 series manual collection is now complete. I have flight and systems manuals. NOTHING in the manuals even hints that the aircraft can be flown with the stairs deployed. I've looked at every relevant page. No wonder the crew had to ask NWA flight ops and NWA flight ops had to call Boeing to get the answer. So how did Cooper know? I'm betting he did know. Otherwise that fuselage was an aluminum holding cell. No way out aloft. He'd at best have a hostage standoff at the next landing. How did he know? Ex Boeing employee? Connected to the Air America Thailand 727 jump tests. Maybe he didn't know, but his detailed aircraft configuration commands strongly suggest otherwise. So few did know. Not one crew member knew. NWA flight ops didn't know. Seems like this could narrow the suspect list. According to Sailshaw Peterson pumped him for 727 airstair info when he roomed at Sailshaws house. When Sail couldn't provide the info (he was working on 737 projects), Peterson then gets a job at Boeing in the technical documents department. Many years passed until the skyjack was committed. Peterson had an alibi (living in a mud hut in Nepal) but the FBI apparently had doubts about him because they continued to suspect him and only ruled him out after a DNA comparison. To me Peterson's moral character makes him an unlikely DB Cooper, but everything else looks suspicious. His blue eyes are potentially exculpatory but brown contacts could have been used. If he was ever charged I'd represent him Pro Bono if he asked. What a trial that would be. And no, I wouldn't write a book or screenplay. It would just be one old jumper helping another one. Wouldn't be the first time I helped a jumper out of a jam. Sheridan denies that he ever roomed with or knew Sailshaw which is a lie in my opinion. Why lie? He pulled his novel off the market after some parallels between the story and Norjack were publicized here. One intriguing passage has the hero walking along the Columbia River banks in inadequate footwear during frigid weather. Very odd for a novel centered in Vietnam. Is it possible that such a suspicious guy had nothing to do with Norjack? Absolutely yes. Same with Mayfield, Braden, Collins and many others who had the right stuff. That's what makes the Cooper vortex so compelling and maddening. Carry on. Rant over. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Although there's no foul committed in requesting a job related interview with a retired FBI agent I agree with Airtwardo. When you retire you are off duty. If info in the possession of a retiree is really critical to solving a criminal case a subpoena can be issued. If it's a civil case you can take a deposition. Being a cop is a stressful occupation. I can see where you'd want to hang up the badge and get out of that environment permanently when you retire. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote You sure it was donated? I heard it was sold. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote What ever became of the Night Clerk Jo? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Hard to figure why Mayfield provided obviously unsafe gear to his DZ patrons. The consequences are severe and so very foreseeable. I just don't get it. Sure, one gear mistake can happen to anyone, but there was a pattern here. How sad that lives were lost. It's a dangerous sport even with safe gear and airworthy jumpships. You start cutting corners on either and really bad things can and do happen. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Teddy Mayfield obviouly wasnt the jumper but the crime sure fits. He was a convicted ARMED ROBBER. That's a long way from picking pockets and stealing Kool Aid as far as big crime goes. OJ's armed robbery conviction comes to mind. He was just collecting his property from some thugs who stole it. Ask him. From Sluggos site: Court records in Oregon show Mayfield has various convictions, including an armed robbery just prior to the D. B. Cooper heist, transportation of a stolen plane across state lines, and Criminal Negligent Homicide, for which he served 5 months in prison. Mayfield states that he has over 50 years experience flying airplanes, is a former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces from 1961-63, and has completed over 8,000 skydiving jumps. 377 As I recall, from the Myers-Dvorak roast of Teddy, Ted's crimes weren't as severe or hardened, as the labels imply. He said himself he had poor legal representation! If I recall this correctly, the Criminal Negligent Homicide conviction for which he served actual time, was a negligence charge after the fact... after one of Ted's students or a client as his sky diving school, plunged to his death in a chute Teddy had packed ... or something like that. It was a criminal negligence charge vs. an overt criminal act on Ted's part. It apparently hit Teddy hard at the time resulting in his school being closed... and him serving time. Years later he was the Mayor his community etc. Ted's life (and deeds) do not add up to the wholesale hardened criminal type Myers and Dvorak were contending ... not by a long shot. And part of his history was ordinary bad luck. Trust me Georger. If Teddy was convicted of armed robbery it was more than ordinary bad luck. Convicted felons usually have a story about incompetent lawyers and lying witnesses. A number of deaths occurred at Mayfield's DZ allegedly due to his negligence. It's not murder, I'll give you that. It's not an intentional killing of another person, but it evidences a callous disregard for the life of someone who has put their trust in you, a student skydiver. I did talk to a person who claimed to have been a first hand witness to Ted's DZ operations for student jumpers. He said the gear was obviously unsafe and Mayfield used it anyway. I wasn't there. My info is hearsay. But don't be an apologist for Mayfield. Big diff between armed robbery and stealing Kool Aid. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote I disagree Jo. He exposed a LOT about current covert surveillance ops, much to the chagrin of the NSA and the President. Isnt it amazing Snowden wasnt assassinated? I wonder if it was discussed or even planned. There is precedent for govt sanctioned murders of US citizens. Snowden was smart. Bet he let them know that there were numerous reasons not to kill him. He probably had some really volatile secret info in the hands of friends that he threatened would be disclosed if he were harmed or even extradited. Back to Cooperland. Fun to speculate about Mayfield. He sure had the skills and moral character to be part of Norjack. I'll bet all those guys knew each other, Cossey, Peterson, Mayfield. Skydiving back then was a small world. DZOs, Riggers and Instructors within a few hundred miles of each other generally were at least aquainted. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, I actually agree with you about the dirty side of our government. The paranoids were actually closer to the truth than the sceptics like me. However... there is no evidence that Norjack was a govt op. ZERO. The idea that it was done to justify increased airport security is LUDICROUS. Since when has the govt needed an excuse to do anything like that? They just do it. Norjack wasnt the first US skyjack. Many preceded it. If the govt needed an excuse they already had several. It's tempting when a crime cannot be solved to blame it on a govt conspiracy and coverup. Don't fall into that trap Jo. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote It's on sale at Amazon Jo. $11.14. http://www.amazon.com/My-Father-was-D-B-Cooper/dp/1849631999 I dont think you need to fear using your credit card online at Amazon. Debit cards are a lot more risky. You should have no problem getting fraudulent charges removed from your credit card were a security breach to occur. I've had a couple of fake charges over the years and they were courteously removed with just a single phone call. Don't let fear paralyse you. Go for broadband high speed Internet, toss the dialup service. Buy something on Amazon and use your credit card. Go do a tandem skydive and post here as a jumper. And yes, Bradly Collins does mention a small private airstrip. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Jo, I think Ted Mayfield was a suspect while the skyjack was in progress. He was a bad boy national champion skydiver, pilot, convicted felon, armed robber, ex special forces, local... Anybody who knew Teddy would likely suspect him. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.