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Jo wrote Jo, Given your bias that Duane was DBC I'd give more credence to Sluggo's opinion about the knife residue than yours. Still, I wasn't there and you were. If the fibers of the knife residue were a perfect match to the suspension lines from the cut Norjack chute I'd pay attention. I cut some extra military surplus suspension line tonight with a sharp pocket knife. I did not see any visible fiber residue. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote So you think Sluggo is part of your imagined govt. coverup squad Jo? I'm not buying it. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Robt99 wrote I dont forget the sled tests at all. I think they provide a good basis for concluding that Cooper's exit caused the pressure bump that was felt by the crew and caused the cabin climb rate needle to bounce. I was just trying to think out of the box and figure out how Cooper might have exited later unnoticed. It is very unlikely that Cooper would have even known what pressure effect his exit would have and figured out how to spoof an early exit. Where is Farflung? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Meyer Louie wrote Easily. Clearance would be no problem. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Those linguistic subtleties are beyond me Georger. I took Canadian in high school but failed the class. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Amazon wrote So that's why some of our northern neighbors seem a bit loopy? The easily confused types end up there? Just kidding Amazon. I think Canadians are pretty much like regular people most of the time. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Reply To Meyer Louie asked about fall dynamics with a money bag tied on to a harness. Below is from a post I made long ago that addresses this issue. If he pulled right off the stairs he'd be OK. No spin and hanging under an open chute. Look at the slo mo video Snow made of the Air America 727 jumps. No spin, no tumble. A squidding canopy decelerates the jumper smoothly. If he delayed the pull, big trouble. As soon as he hit the air beyond the area shielded by the plane KABOOM. In the WFFC jet jumps many people tumbled on exit. Fanny packs and velcroed wrist altimeters were ripped off a few people. My tight goggles were ripped off my face. Only my helmet over the strap held them on. No big deal. Sunny day. Perfect horizon. No asymmetrical payload bag. In a few seconds the experienced jumpers stabilized. BUT, the way you stabilize is to orient yourself with the horizon AND a heading reference. On a cloudy night you might have NEITHER. You can arch hard and you will end up belly to earth, but you can't stop a spin without a heading reference. An unchecked spin can increase in rotational speed until the jumper blacks out. An attached payload bag, unless tightly fastened and presenting a symmetrical drag profile relative to the jumper, will cause a spin. At the symposium I showed photos of a test jump I did with a large canvas bag affixed to one leg. It wasn't carrying loot, just radio telemetry gear. During initial freefall that bag almost flipped me over. I managed to compensate with my body. My exit speed was low (about 75 knots). If I had hit the airstream at Coopers exit speed I'd have gone unstable. In daylight I could have fixed it, especially as I slowed down to 120 mph terminal velocity. At night with no horizon or heading reference I don't think I could have stabilized. So I only agree with Jerry in one exit scenario, a delayed pull. If Cooper knew to pull right off the stairs I think he was stable, got a good chute and landed alive. After that I can't say. A water landing at night could easily be fatal. Even if he alighted on ground there could be problems. I've done a jet jump. I've made three jumps with a big bag. I've made jumps with a walkie talkie and operated it after opening.. I've never combined all three but I can tell you that at night it would be a major handful. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Meyer Louie wrote It's just a theory, a possibility. The real jump would not have been made from the bottom step but much higher so leverage (moment arm for you engineers) would be less and hence less deflection when departing. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

A zillions posts ago I attached PDFs of an article written by a Columbia River Pilot, someone with special training and qualifications who takes the helm on freighters transiting the Columbia. The author wrote about all sorts of current anomalies including the "bank suction effect." River currents are complicated and when tides are and tributary mixing are involved they get even more complex. I'm not saying water flows uphill, but you do see some couterintuitve effects. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

With all the talk about Victor air routes this has a tiny relevance. It's an amazing video shot from an F18 cockpit. http://biggeekdad.com/2012/09/f-18-low-level-flying-vr-1251/ Recognize any of the terrain Amazon or Blevins? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

That's a thoughtful and articulate answer Airtwardo. I think you nailed it. We jumpers divert BS and drama, like a turbo wastegate diverts excess exhaust gas. We don't let it spin us up past redline. Those who roll without this feature can over-boost and detonate. We see a lot of that here. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Damn! Nobody can ever accuse you of having a short attention span Brian. Such focus. I lose interest in fucked up main canopies really fast. ADHD can be a blessing. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

727 power reductions, flap position changes, gear extension... all can be heard under the right conditions but none sound "like a plane in trouble". F106 interceptors were very loud single engine (J75-17) turbojet aircraft. If they were heard circling or making power changes they'd sound different than a 727 and might be more likely to have been noticed. I believe that the Cooper 727 had JT8D-7 turbofan engines which have a higher bypass ratio than turbojets and sound less "harsh". Someone hearing an F106 and thinking the sound was coming from an airliner might think it sounded "wrong" and conclude that the unseen aircraft was "in trouble". 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Airtwardo wrote Umm, not everything is avoidable by staying on the couch. I bet you know some jumpers who are paying 18 years of child support for something that got started on a couch. I think Blevins ought to carry one of these. Too many close calls. http://m.rei.com/mt/www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html The venom against Blevins seems to come primarily (but not exclusively) from non jumpers. Why is that Airtwardo? Are we jumpers just more tolerant? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

+1 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote It's common Jo. The pretty woman rejects the safe bets and goes for the charming good looking bad boy. Sounds like Duane really loved you and you had some good times together. In that regard you could have done a lot worse. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote about Marla Such virtue in the pursuit of journalistic integrity and truth...but I'll bet you were multi-tasking Robert. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Now that's true tragedy. Akin to castration. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

How did Duane's tie tac end up on eBay? http://bit.ly/Wb0PHH 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Cooper twenty on eBay. Lots of photos. D.B. Cooper Hijacking $20 Note Airlines Aviation FBI US History DB Money / Coins http://bit.ly/Wo3Sqz 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Traveling Jo? Hope it's not a hospital visit. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote If that's true then Duane really blew it. There is no solid evidence tieing him to Nojack, at least nothing that could convict him. If he worried about being arrested he could have arranged for a partner to "find" the tattered bills and auction them off after settling with the insurance company over how much a finder could keep. Some people are dumb enough to pay big bucks for a Cooper twenty. The collectable value would have made the $200K worth waaaaay more than face value. Duane was an antique dealer. He knew about the value of historical relics. An antique tied to a big event is worth way more than the same piece that has no story. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

OH! You are having fun with that one aren't you. VIP - well, that one is my secret and NO one anyone would call a VIP other than maybe myself. Night Clerk - well, he does exist and is still living in China. Seafirst Bank Official! I never said it was a Seafirst Bank Official - lets climb the ladder a little. NO NO keep going on up the ladder - yea, that's it, just a little bit higher! NO NO go a little higher! Quick LOOK behind you!

I have an interest in ejection systems Robert. Have you seen the book EJECT? It's a good history and survey. I was very interested in the capsule systems for the B58 and XB70. A skydiving friend ejected from a Navy S3. It was a spine crushing brutal experience, but he lived. There is a cool Dornier VTOL commuter jet on display in front of the big Deutche Museum in Munich. The two pilots have bang seats. I almost bought a very complete Martin Baker bang seat that was for sale locally really cheap. I had an idea of making a desk chair out if it but it was very uncomfortable. I passed. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo serves up an abundance of anonymous mystery players. Night Clerk, VIPs, and now some bank officials who packed the Seafirst currency? I like clear sunlight. Jo apparently prefers fog. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.