377

Braden's 2002 arrest. See attached records. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Yup. But Ted has the smirk. In spades. Corrected my earlier post. Teds DUI arrest was 2002 not 2003. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Snowmman informs me that a DUI record for Braden in 2002 shows: Braden, Ted B. DOB: 1928/09/24 Sex: Male Hgt: 5' 08" Wgt: 165 Eye: Hazel Hair: Gray or Partially Gray Social Security: xxx-xx-4946 Hazel eyes. Hmmm.. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Then Jo writes Jo, Nobody can say that with any certainty. It's a pure guess on your part and shows bias. Until Cooper is identified nobody knows why he wasn't identified earlier. You think he has already been identified and was Duane Weber. That colors everything you do, say or think. SOG soldiers were qualified jumpers. Some did extreme ops, night recon jumps into the enemy jungle. Scary risky stuff. You have yet to present ANY credible evidence that Duane ever jumped. Hanging around smoke jumpers and or aircraft mechanics or pilots doesn't count. You've also never presented evidence that Duane successfully planned and executed any complex crime. His extensive arrest and conviction record strongly suggests that he was incapable of it. I've no proof that either Peterson or Braden was Cooper but they sure have a huge head start over Duane by simple virtue of their proven skill sets and relevant experience. Cooper didn't have to be a jumper. I do admit that. Farflung and Snow convinced me of that, but my admittedly biased opinion says he was either a jumper or aircrew associated with airdrop ops. I can recognize and admit my own bias. Can you Jo? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Bruce wrote As I recall, the Ramparts Magazine article picture of Ted Braden showed blue or blue-green eyes, not brown. Brown contacts might have been used by Cooper but there is no evidence that this occurred. Braden's history is fascinating. How the hell did he duck prosecution for desertion and get reinstated (and possibly even promoted) like it never happened? What card was he holding that caused intervention on his behalf by General John Singlaub? Braden took careless risks in Vietnam and was criticized by his colleagues for unnecessarily putting them and the missions in danger. This trait could fit Cooper. Braden also apparently knew how to travel internationally with fake ID. The SOG guys who served with him have their reasons for suspecting Braden. It might be something intangible. They might see a signature, something about the crime that has Braden's particular touch. Braden is dead now. Ended up as a truck driver. His last occupation has always struck me as odd given his background and apparent thirst for living on the edge. Maybe he was hauling contraband. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Robert99, What time period? Some twill reserves were still being used for static line students at my DZ in 1968 but they disappeared quickly after reports of failures at terminal velocity deployments were publicized in the skydiving community. The surplus 24 ft paratrooper twill reserve canopies packed up small and that was attractive but nobody wanted a small reserve that was undependable. 26 ft Navy Conicals were pricey and hard to find but 28 ft C9s were plentiful and cheap. They made for heavy and bulky chest reserves but they were very reliable and strong. Let's hear from some riggers who were working in 1971. Did you repack any surplus twill canopies in emergency rigs? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

One thing for sure about the Amboy canopy is that it is NOT made of ripstop fabric. That indisputable fact and some logic/common sense rules it out as a Cooper canopy in my opinion. Military surplus twill (non ripstop) canopies were dangerous when deployed at high speeds. They killed some unfortunate skydivers who used surplus twill reserve canopies in the 1960s. Can you imagine watching your last chance canopy rip from skirt to apex? Game over. Nobody in their right mind would use a surplus twill canopy for an emergency rig in 1971. A rigger would be an idiot to service such a canopy. Surplus ripstop canopies were dirt cheap back then, especially C9 canopies. C9s are the pit bull of all canopies. Tough as hell (unless sun damaged). Still the Amboy chute is a puzzle. How did it end up buried? What might lie beneath it? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, The info that you say came is straight word for word in Wikipedia. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Keep believing this Jo. I give up trying to convince you that this power grid microwave tower to Cooper aircraft communication is not even remotely practical. It's as impractical as your idea that Duane had corset stays that vibrated in the vicinity of a VOR station. Don't let science get in the way of bias. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Are you referring to flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder? I thought FDRs (71 vintage) recorded on something permanent like foil or film rather than an endless loop tape. Maybe I'm thinking of earlier vintage FDRs. Here's the latest NTSB protocols for recovering FDRs. http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/manuals/FDR_Handbook.pdf 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo may not be so far off base about microwave gear being used for voice comms as well as power distribution control data in hydroelectric dams. From here: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/snowy/telecommunications.htm I still believe this type of system would have been of absolutely no use to Cooper. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Jo gets the Nobel. GreyCop gets the Pulitzer. Any objections? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Mr. Shutter wrote to Jo Far fetched indeed. I think Jo needs to stay off the keyboard when she takes her meds 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

G wrote Its fun to speculate what "accessories" Cooper might have employed, e.g. brown contact lenses, radios, VOR detecting vibrating corset stays, etc, but he probably had nothing, not even an altimeter. I do wonder why Cooper spent such a long time in the aft rest room. My fantasy is that he was taking out his brown contact lenses pre jump and dropped one. It can take a long time to find such an item. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I've got a radio updated time watch, a cheap one, cost $29.95. The time signals received by these types of watches come from government stations in various countries. Mine only receives the National Bureau of Standards (now called NIST) time correction signal broadcast on 60 KHz from Ft. COLLINS Colorado. The Citizen version Mr. Shutter cited works in many countries. http://tf.nist.gov/general/pdf/1739.pdf Maybe Jo will pick up on the Collins name and Colorado and make all sorts of connections. These types of radio corrected watches werent available in 1971. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I was totally expecting this to be the watch in question... see this - http://www.techlib.com/electronics/allband.htm Georger, I have one of these. Its just a crystal radio with no front end stage hence no selectivity. It works well on VERY strong signals, essentially near field RF. Its useless at any significant distance when you are dealing with comm power level transmitters. Aircraft comms can be received at about 100 yards max. A clever company (CSC, now defunct) paired one of these with a frequency counter, and fed the digital frequency info to tune a real superhet scannner receiver which loaded the freq in a memory. The idea was that you could capture an unknown transmitter freq when very close to it, then load the freq into a high performance receiver so you could continue to monitor transmissions at a distance. You could do thre same thing with a frequency counter with an antenna on the input and just hand type the freq shown into a scanner keyboard. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

You're all crazy wrote Duane had a very skilled CB tech. An extra switch in the back for VHF aero band comms, another for microwave. Amazing what can be done at those truck stop CB shops. For another couple a hundred you can get the digital spread spectrum satcom mod. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, I won't dispute that Duane wore watches that he couldnt afford. You know how I think he obtained them. I will dispute that in 1971 Duane or anyone else including the CIA NSA FBI FCC FAA USAF USN USA or any other entity on this planet had a wristwatch that could use microwave towers and/or VOR stations for navigation. What makes you think a hydroelectric dam microwave comm glitch on Nov 24th 1971 would be newsworthy? I spent a lot of time looking for your remembered prison smokejumper article to no avail. I'm not going to spend time chasing a remembered article on a dam microwave glitch. IT DOESNT MATTER ABOUT DUANES WATCHES. BATTERY, GYRO, SELF WINDING, SOLAR POWERED, CHEAP EXPENSIVE, ORGINAL BAND OR SPEIDEL BAND, all of that is irrelevant. IT IS POINTLESS TO RESEARCH FURTHER. NO WATCH IN 1971 COULD DO THE THINGS YOU IMAGINE DUANE'S WATCH DID... but you will probably go to your grave believing otherwise. Sigh. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Great video Jim. Can you post (or draw) a pic of it mounted on a canopy? How reliable was it? What about failure to release malfunctions? Really enjoyed jumping with you in October. That Pink Floyd high aspect ratio canopy you were flying is like no other I've seen. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Georger wrote Here it is Georger: Isle of St. James in the North Farallon Island chain. Savage, untamed, close to SF and what a great DXpedition spot for the IOTA (Islands On The Air) hunters. Lots of Great White sharks around these parts so I'd suggest arriving by parachute. Better have good spotting and canopy accuracy skills. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Farallon_Islands.jpg 73, 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, Microwave data links have indeed been used to control power distribution. See this http://www.upptcl.org/tech_info/power_system.htm These types of systems would have been of no use to Cooper. Really. BTW the "jewels" in watches are nearly valueless. They are industrial grade bearings, not gems. Bradley Collins, who recently authored the book My Father was DB Cooper, makes a claim about his Dad having a watch that with the push of a button converted into a luminous analog altimeter in 1971. That watch and Duane's VOR/NAV/microwave tower-detecting watch are science fiction devices insofar as 1971 technology is concerned. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

+++1+++ +1. Especially on a high speed exit you want everything tight tight tight. When I did my DC 9 jet jump my goggles got ripped right of my face by the exit windblast. I didnt lose them as the band still held, but lesson learned. The goggles had the same tightness adjustment that had worked just fine in hundreds of prior normal jumps. Some jet jumpers lost fanny packs and other accessories that were not tighly fastened. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

In:Technology, Clocks and Watches [Edit categories] From "Answers' Quartz crystals, when properly sized, oscillate (vibrate) at fixed frequencies. These frequencies are not affected by radio waves. A small quartz crystal can be made to oscillate at 32,768 hertz (cycles per second) in a simple oscillator circuit that has a very low power consumption. Since the number 32,768 is a power of 2, and can easily be counted by a digital counter, the quartz crystal oscillator is a perfect match for use in a digital watch. Simply put, each time the crystal oscillates, the circuitry in the watch increments a 15-bit binary digital counter. Once the counter resets to 0, one second has passed. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Youreallcrazy wrote I and some ham skydiver friends have experimented doing HAHO jumps with all sorts of radio gear including live microwave (2.4 GHz) video, FM voice on VHF, UHF and low microwave freqs (1.2GHz), and SSB on VHF. We also do APRS telemetry on 144.390 MHz that gives real time GPS data as well as heart rate and blood oxygen levels using a fingertip pulseox sensor. Exit altitudes have ranged from 18,000 ft to 13,500 ft with quick openings to give long hang times. Best distance to a ground station was 190 miles, 30 miles is routine. Of course line of sight range decreases as you descend. I see you know your military gear so you'll love this. On Oct 12, 2013 I jumped carrying a working WW 2 Army BC 611, the worlds first walkie talkie. Did a hop and pop from 14,000. The BC 611 is 100% vaccuum tube and 70 years old. Heard a station 50 miles away on 3885 KHz AM but he couldnt hear me clearly. Got some very noisy barely readable comms with a ham on the DZ also using a BC 611. DBC sure could have used a 1971 CB walkie talkie to communicate with an accomplice on the ground but there is ZERO evidence that any radio comm or nav gear was used. Nobody wants Cooper to have used radio gear more than I do, but sadly its just a fantasy with no evidence to support it. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote You are dreaming Jo. There are a lot of radio experts on this forum and not one of them finds this credible, especially in 1971. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.