377

Jo wrote Are you kidding Jo? Many including myself want to believe he survived. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I wish the FBI would let me examine the Amboy chute. I'll be up in the Seattle area for a trial in late April. Wish I had a good FBI connection. Looks to me like the canopy wasn't completely extracted from the burial site. The connecting hardware on the ends of the risers would tell me a lot about the kind of rig it was attached to. I don't think it was DBCs chute because of the age and type, but I can't rule it out. It would be INSANE to have packed a twill (non ripstop) canopy in an emergency bailout rig in 1971. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

A mass foot search is futile if you look at the statistics and the odds of finding anything, but you never know. Who EVER would have thought that the NORJACK aircraft's door placard would have been found, recognized as significant and given to the authorities???? The odds against it were HUGE, yet it happened. I like Jerry's optimism. He is a miner. Hope he finds the DBC mother lode. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Good luck on the search Jerry. The rig is out there somewhere. If Cooper went in, the rig is out there. If he lived, the rig is out there as it would make zero sense to take it with him. Pigs can be trained to recognize objects and fetch them. They have sensitive noses and are intelligent. Crows have been trained to recognize discarded coins and bring them back for a food reward. Maybe animals could help. Military parachute rigs have a distinctive smell that appears to come from the webbing material. I noticed it on my early surplus gear and can still smell it on my more recent vintage NB8. I've been told that it comes from a chemical used to provide UV resistance in nylon material. Amazon, Guru, Jerry, Airtwardo... You know that smell. Its not subtle. I'll bet a dog or pig could be trained to recognize it. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Jo, You need to talk with some old timers in radio comms. They will tell you that CB radios were never used in USFS smoke jumper to plane comms. I know a ham who specializes in the history of USFS comm gear and has quite a collecrtion. NONE of it works in the Citizens Band (27 MHz). It's mostly VHF FM gear. To be fair to you however, I did find mention of CB radios and national forest comms in some 1995 USFS regs: http://www.fs.fed.us/im/directives/fsh/6609.14/6609.14_40 Jo, note that this use of CB in the Forest Service was only for comms with non govt users. It was probably put in place to allow rangers to talk to recreational park users who were stranded or needed assistance. Forest Service aircraft never had CB radios. You insist that Duane had his CB modified so that he could communicate with aircraft and truckers on the same radio. I say no way. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Robert 99 wrote True. No planes, just sats and electronics. HAC made some REALLY amazing toys for the military and spooks. I got to read the maintenance reports on the flying boat. It was kept in an air conditioned hanger but the wooden airframe structure was gradually absorbing more and more moisture. A story told to me as true was that in the late 70s the US Navy seriously considered using it to do WIG research (wing in ground effect) as the Russian WIG craft caught the west by surprise. The problem was that there were no established and validated methods for verifying the structural integrity of the wooden laminate airframe. Hughes did have their own attack bomber air force, a fleet of Navy A3 Whales that flew out of Van Nuys testing radar gear. The Navy reportedly loaned the planes to Hughes then forgot about them. One guy told me that the Navy had literally lost the paperwork on the planes and didn't want them back. They were eventually retired. I got a Navy NB8 rig from one of them. No ejection seats. Just a slide. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Airtwardo wrote (about BKs bizzare rig story) Now there's a man with an open mind. How would you pull the ripcord? Oh, I get it. Just lash some suspension line to the handle and tie the other end around your wrist. Makes sense. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Collins never made CB radios. Art Collins and USAF Gen. Curtis LeMay were buddies and fellow ham radio operators. Together they revolutionized HF radio comms for the Strategic Air Command by adopting SSB and phasing out AM. Sen. Barry Goldwater, also a ham, was the third man in the Collins SSB Troika. Collins made a fortune supplying SSB HF radios to the USAF starting with the vacuum tube ARC 58 transceiver and continuing to this day. I used to work for Hughes. Hughes Helicopter was separate from Hughes Aircraft. Boeing, with its Vertol division, was a helo competitor. McDonnel Douglas (St. Louis) eventually bought Hughes Helo. Boeing eventually bought McDonnel Douglas and also the Space and Communications group of Hughes Aircraft. 377 . 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Jo must think this is Gotham City and she's The Riddler. Ignite the searchlight Commissioner. We need Batman. Jo, instead of riddling why not just post answers? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

It's so bad that it's funny. Give us some others from time to time Blevins. Jumping from 18,000 ft on Sat with video cam, radios, data loggers and home brewed telemetry gear. Still quite cold up there even in sunny California. Got some new goggles that have a tiny color LCD screen inside that gives baro altitude, GPS derived glide ratio and other cool stuff. Can ya tell I like gadgets? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

BK wrote Still not buying it BK. This story is to parachuting as the following would be to skiing: Take your skis, lash them to your back with some cord and make a really difficult downhill run at night. The bailout rigs provided had a clear area on the chest. There was no need to cobb up an incredibly unsafe and nearly impossible to deploy hybrid with a chest mount reserve tied to the back of the rig just to give a clear area in the front. The bailout rigs had a big protrusion on the back where the main canopy was packed. A chest mount reserve lashed to the back would have been nearly impossible to deploy given the distance and location of the reserve ripcord handle. I can't prove you never heard this story, but I can say that it describes an absurd, unnecessary and fatally impractical rigging scheme. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Welcome back Mr Green, it's been a couple of years hasnt it? Hope you are winning the medical battle. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

If that could be verified it would be a huge clue pointing to prior parachute experience. Jerry Thomas kindly paved the way for a phone call with Ralph H. Ralph said he saw nothing that supported Tosaw's claim about DBC examining a packing card. At the Portland symposium I challenged several people to find the packing card on my NB8 in under a minute. Nobody succeeded. It is really well hidden. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

BK also says the chest mount reserve was rigged as a back mounted main by Duane and used for the Norjack jump. This makes zero sense and wasnt even possible with the rigs supplied. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Perhaps he didn't delete it Jo. Maybe it "poofed" In your riddle storm, you asked if Cooper really existed. The answer is yes. I'm positive he did. The story that he was a fictional person made up by a conspiring crew doesnt hold water. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Keep up the pressure Mr Shutter. Show no mercy. Happy birthday BK. I don't agree with your Norjack story but the birthday wish is sincere. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote I was a college student at Berkeley in the late 60s. I saw Janis Joplin and her band perform in SF many times. She was a drunk. I never saw her perform sober. I think the proper quote should have been: 'Being an intoxicated intellectual creates a lot of questions and no answers...' Even though sloppy drunk, Janis always put on a great show. Jimi Hendrix was a former paratrooper with Seattle roots, but he's not on anyone's DBC suspect list being black and having died in 1970. Although its the subject of enduring controversy, I still think the lyrics "Excuse me while I kiss the sky" have roots in his brief jumping experience. What's Marla up to? Any Face Bookies following her? Farflungs prolonged absence worries me. Tell us you are OK Farf. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote That girl can sure tease good. This last one has a hoodoo voodoo tone to it. I can almost hear Dr John, the "night tripper" in the background. The best zombie song, however, is this one by the Reggae artist Busy Signal: http://www.in-jamaica.com/videofeed/22k64PVNenc#/videofeed/22k64PVNenc The song is sung entirely in English but the Jamaican accent is so heavy that I bet few here can understand more than a word or two. I challenge you to write a few lines of the lyrics and post them. So Jo, beneath the tease, what is going on? Can you put him on da plane? The Duane in plane falls mainly on the insane. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Amazon wrote Damn good job Amazon. You took first in the masters division. Spotting is a lost art that should be revived. Jumping surplus rounds is a lost art that should remain buried, DEEP. I've got well over a hundred bone-crunching backwards-speeding perfect PLF or break something C9 jumps. Whaduhyuh expect from a $25 canopy anyway? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote Amazon and I would have done it for free. I paid $100 to jump from the DC 9 jet. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Mr. Shutter wrote: You sure have done your homework and I sincerely appreciate it. While some snipe and squabble, others work quietly in the background and try to actually analyse the evidence we do have. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Priceless Jo. 'Don't make any fast moves. No funny business. I've got a phone and I'm not afraid to use it.' Robert B., this begs for a parody. Johnny Cash. "I walk (burn) the line". 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Georger wrote What about a pristine Cooper twenty? If Jo found that in Duane's belongings wouldnt that be pretty close? Speaking of paracord, remember this case? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote It's worse than that. It makes otherwise rational people pay thousands for a twenty. It makes publishers and authors give away their wares. It makes a practicing litigator abandon the courtroom and chase phantom safe deposit boxes in Canada. It makes an ailing widow spend the last of her meager funds traveling to Washington in search of the holy grail. If you just break even in the Cooper casino, you are a winner. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote: Give us the date you expect the FBI to receive your package Jo so I can start my 10 day countdown timer. Exactly how are you going to carry out your threat to go public? Press conference? For crying out loud Jo, get some fast Internet. If this is your life's work, dont cripple yourself. It's easy and pretty cheap. I know I am wasting my time suggesting this. You will cling to dial up forever and complain about your inability to watch videos and download big files. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.