377

All I know is mud hut (at base of Annapurna?) with his wife in Nov 1971. Sailshaw may have more specific info. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Georger, You implied that you could find out if Sheridan Peterson's mud hut in Nepal residence claim had some factual basis. I agree, he sure would have been noticed. How about pinging your friends who might know? Hey, I worked Swains Island on 20M. I was DX schooled by Snowmman himself. Will be making some more radio HAHO jumps next weekend. Might even try a CB HT. 10-4? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

http://anti-joke.com/anti-joke/popular/3632-man-walks-into-a-bar-and-pauses-at-the-other-end-of-the-bar-there-s-this-guy-with-a-big This guy with a big orange head walks into a bar. He spots a very attractive blonde sitting alone. He orders a bottle of champagne, wraps a $100 bill around it and has it taken to her. She tells the bartender, if that guy's head wasn't so big and orange a twenty would have been sufficient. To be continued... by Farflung. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Physics of freefall from near space. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/02/would-the-stratos-space-jump-be-similar-to-reentry/ 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

You guessed correctly: radio remote control. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Indeed he is. I met him once, nice guy with a lot of aviation experience beyond the balloon feat. Joe is revered in the jumper community, an Original Gangsta. I stupidly forgot to have Joe sign my logbook. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote about Marla I dont count my time with Marla as wasted. We had some detailed conversations about 1970s vintage CB walkie talkies, a subject dear to her heart and mine. Does it get any better than that? Breaker Breaker, looking for that Tail Dragger in Oregon (see below) 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Cool. It's all about the life support gear, so pray for no malfunctions. Red Bull has spent millions and bought the every best engineering and equipment designed to insure Felix's survival. Nick Piantanida tried several times to do this jump on a budget and died trying. http://artofmanliness.com/2010/10/07/skydiving-from-space-part-ii-nick-piantanidas-magnificent-failure/ Its brutal up at those altitudes. You lose O2 or pressure and it's over very fast. Your blood literally boils if your pressure suit fails. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Georger wrote (about Marla?) Good one G! 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Belvins wrote: Did the FBI really swallow it or did Marla merely claim that the FBI really swallowed it? Maybe Ayn Dietrich got a little carried away in speaking with a foreign journalist. That doesnt mean that the FBI really thought LDC was DBC. Marla said: Marla also said In Cooper matters where the facts are scrambled, Bruce Smith usually sorts them out. Witness his masterful job investigating the ownership of the Cooper chutes. So I'll defer to Bruce as to how much the FBI really swallowed Marla's story. What say you Bruce? BTW here is a nice photo of Tom K and Marla: http://themountainnewswa.net/2011/12/02/db-cooper-marla-cooper-says-fbi-case-agent-convinced-her-uncle-is-skyjacker-claims-fbi-will-close-case-shortly I wonder what Marla is up to now? She sure lit things up for a while. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Perhaps fire fighters or paramedics? Priests and investment bankers were removed from the list years ago. Lawyers never were on the list. I tell my son that he can trust skydivers. I wouldn't say the same thing to my 19 year old daughter. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Perry Stevens, D-51, has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 USPA Gold Medal for Meritorious Achievement for the invention of the Steven’s system, now know as the RSL. Congrats to Perry. His invention and its subsequent development by others has undoubtedly saved many lives. As I recall some guys at Security Parachute Co. worked with Perry on this system. Perry trained me in 1968. He was a great instructor and pushed safety really hard. He washed out one student in my class who just couldn't perform decisive and fast cutaways from the suspended harness. I still jump 44 years later and fortunately have never been injured. I credit Perry for my good fortune. I've done two cutaways, one round to round, one square to square. Thanks to Perry both were by the book. Perry should also get some credit as a tandem pioneer. He made a special rig so his Dachshund could jump with him. That dog truly loved to skydive and would get all excited when she got to go. She sometimes rode with us as an "observer" in the RAT, Perry's Aeronca Sedan jumpship. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I may write in Snowman. It's a devil you know thing... 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote You could have done lots of things Jo. Your decision to make this DW=DBC pursuit a full time endeavor rather than a part time one is a choice you made. There is still time left to take a vacation from this maelstrom. The question is: can you wean yourself from the Cooper stuff for even a few weeks? I hope you can. You equate FBI screw ups and errors with a coverup. I think they are less sinister with regard to Duane. They'd love to solve Norjack. I know you disagree. I witnessed plenty of FBI errors when I was doing criminal defense. It's an inevitable part of police work. They get some things wrong. It doesn't always mean a coverup. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

If the FBI thought Peterson's Nepal alibi was airtight would they have subsequently insisted on a DNA sample? Nope. Peterson was ruled out on DNA. The FBI is very confident that they have a DBC DNA sample that can rule out suspects. If the DNA isn't really Coopers then all bets are off. Peterson was certainly capable of making the NORJACK jump. He was an expert skydiver, ex Marine and former smoke jumper who had done night jumps, wilderness jumps and water jumps. He had a big grudge. He had worked at Boeing in tech documents. He was known for risky jumps (e.g. home made bat wing suit) that pushed the limits. Sailshaw is certain that Peterson is DBC. The FBI is just as certain that he isn't. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

What do you consider conservative? I fly a Triathlon loaded at about 1.1 lb/sq ft. When winds exceed 18 mph I wait for lower speeds. I'm 63 and it works for me. One thing a lot of new low time jumpers don't seem to understand is that landing slightly off the wind line is not such a huge deal. I've seen such jumpers make big toggle inputs very close to the ground to correct a 10 degree off upwind heading. Not necessary and potentially very dangerous. Brian Germain's book Canopy Pilot is a a must read and must have publication. It tells you how to make good landings and more importantly how to safely recover from a landing approach that is sub optimal. If you are tempted to try hook turns and swoops do them in an empty sky well above 2000 ft. I can fantasize that I'm a great swooper under those conditions. No consequences if I blow it. On my real landings I'm a 747. Upwind, pattern, no low turns. Boring landings are my goal, every time. Nobody has ever turned their head to watch my landings and that's OK with me. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Smoke jumper history is richly documented. We had no trouble proving Sheridan Peterson had been a USFS smoke jumper. You have some fuzzy photos and wishful thinking Jo. Zero evidence that Duane Weber was a jumper, packer or in any other way associated with smoke jumpers. The camp photos in my opinion do not have enough detail to PROVE a match to Weber using facial recognition software. Georger might be able to disprove it by comparing ear locations. Duane's alleged metamorphosis from a bungling thief to a guy who could successfully plan and execute NORJACK is simply too big a stretch. You disagree. I know that. We just don't see eye to eye on Webers abilities. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote I'm still fond of you Jo even though you are getting pretty bossy in the prior paragraph. You still are putting the cart before the Clydesdales. Put Duane in a parachute and THEN I'll give your material a lot of immediate attention. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

OK, here is one from another "older jumper": I made my first jump in 1968, made over 100 surplus cheapo round jumps, didn't break anything and am still jumping regularly. Pat's book actually helped me earn an SCR about 36 years ago. It unravelled the mysteries that eluded me for so long in freefall. Thanks Pat! Pat does have a way with words. Have you ever read a more riveting description of ground rush??? OMG, he had me sweating and trying to find something to pull. My skydiving history? It is just like Pats, except no awards, books, medals, records or poetry. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Ahhh! The tease. Jo always has cards up her sleeve. Nobody gets to see the whole picture. Let me know when you are ready to reveal the Folsom Prison inmate smokejumpers photo. I am surprised nobody has postulated that DBC was a Mason. Surely if there was a conspiracy there must be Masons involved. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote: That's what we all suffer from: a simultaneous possesion AKA the Cooper Curse. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

http://www.markbarry.com/lawnchairman.html This is a website about the guy who attached a bunch of surplus weather balloons to a lawn chair and ascended to over 16,000 ft above the L.A. CA area back in 1982. It was an amazing feat fraught with peril but he landed safely. The FAA slammed him with a big fine and Manny Real, then an Asst US Attorney and now a federal judge, went after him on criminal charges. The public, however, considered him a hero. Larry had a CB walkie talkie and was able to easily communicate with numerous ground stations. There is even a transcript of some of his comms on the website linked above. His fame faded and he suffered with depression. Sadly, Larry took his own life. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Welcome back! Go big and stay big on canopies is my advice. Keep that wing loading conservative and you'll still be jumping years from now. Land like a 747. Leave swoops to the kids who believe they are immortal and are 100% certain that they will always have perfect timing and judgment. I've been jumping since 1968 and jumped a week ago. No injuries ever, which is amazing since I used to jump cheapo rounds in strong winds and land hard going backwards. Modern ram air canopies are a godsend for old jumpers. You can have a nice standup landing every time if you take a conservative approach to canopy flying and wind conditions. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Sounds exactly like a booster rig Jo. Given ample evidence that Duane was a thief and zero evidence that he was a parachutist I know where I'd place my bet regarding the purpose of this unusual item. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, All walkie talkies carry internal batteries. Having an external separate battery makes no sense and would needlessly add complications to a tough night jump. If Cooper's bomb battery was the right voltage for the walkie talkie (usually 12 volts) then it could have been used but it would require a cable and a special plug to connect to the radio. Some accounts of Cooper's battery describe it as round which if accurate makes it likely that it was a 1.5 volt cell which is useless for powering a walkie talkie. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.