377

From Snow, speaking about Gray's book passage that says Cooper had benzedrine pills in his pocket. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I remember the Calistoga DZ. I was about 11 when I saw my first ever skydiving there. I was HOOKED, I mean kid-insane wild crazy wannabe one of those guys hooked. My young heart and mind were racing, I just couldn't believe how cool it was. I still feel that way today. My folks and my three younger brothers got bored watching but I BEGGED them to stay. I hung out with the heroic jumpers and they were really nice to me. They tolerated endless excited whuffo-kid questions and even let me help them pack their canopies. I had to wait 7 long years until I turned 18 and then jumped immediately. I fantasized about it every day during the 7 year wait. Sadly, when I was ready to jump unsupervised, Calistoga had closed. Coming up on my 44th year jumping and it all started at Calistoga. Calistoga was a cool DZ, loocted right on the edge of town. Lots of sailplanes too. Rumor has it that Calistoga was named by a drunk guy giving a speech opening up a hot springs there back in the day. He was trying to say it was the Saratoga (NY place then known for spas and springs) of California. It came out Calistoga. What makes you think Braden may have jumped there? Mike Steel, later a Golden Knight jumped there in the mid 60s. He later went in at Fremont CA on a pirate one instructor AFF jump that went bad. He saved his student but got so low that when he pulled his main (yeah, I know, he should've gone for the reserve) it was just getting line stretch as he impacted, 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Interesting post Hominid, especially this portion: I think you are right about the stairs shielding the airblast. I've watched raft jumps where jumpers hold an inflatable raft during freefall with one or two jumpers in the raft. I watched a girl with no helmet riding in the raft. Her hair was hanging DOWN as the raft was in freefall! BTW you are sure right about rate pressure instruments being sensitive. I have a cabin rate of climb gauge and can make it jump by slamming the door in an ordinary room with the windows closed. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I can't see Ted Braden driving truck, the one specific thing he said he never wanted to do. If he had enough dirt on the govt to turn wartime desertion into an honorable discharge on orders from way up, surely he could have wrangled a more interesting and exciting job. Ted was an adrenaline junkie. When his wife said Ted did some jail time I wonder what he was convicted of. He may have haf a DUI, but first time drunk drivers rarely get time. One thing I do recall about my jet exit is that the initial windblast was very strong. It ripped the goggles off my face, something that never happened on hundreds of prior jumps. Others had similar experiences and there were a few things lost. It was weird slowing down during the initial part of the freefall. I think our exit speed was about 175 mph or so. Without the requested knapsack it's possible that whatever Cooper rigged up to carry the loot came open or broke free. Still, SOG jumpers knew far more about securing payloads than skydivers did. Braden sure makes a good Cooper, but that doesn't make him Cooper. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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

A big Happy Birthday to Baby O! 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Your GUYS? They control you? Do you need a deprogrammer? Still waiting Jo. Another couple of weeks is no big deal. What made you change your mind about asking the FBI for help? Braden's widow thought he might be DBC but she didn't devote her life to pursuing that hunch. But who has the more interesting and invigorating life? It's Jo for sure. Maybe my suggestion for Jo to drop Norjack stuff was ill advised. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Braden's (ex?) wife said: Thanks for doing the interview Bruce! Braden sure had the skills to do Norjack. No question about that. If he was DBC, and got away with nearly 200K cash in 71, why would he be driving a truck a couple of years later? If Braden were DBC I dont think he would have lost all the Norjack money during the jump, but it's possible. SOG guys knew all about jumping with payloads and how to secure them. Still, Cooper asked for a knapsack, didn't get one and had to improvise. Maybe something came undone and some or all of the loot was lost. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Good to hear from you Amazon. I've run the bars at Eureka, Astoria and many other boat graveyards along that coast. I've been more scared crossing sandbars in heavy weather than I ever have been doing skydiving. When you are a big heavily loaded commercial fishing boat with a top speed of 8 knots you can't outrun a breaking swell. I once decided to just hang out offshore. The swells were huge and it was too scary to try and cross the bar. One boat then decided attempt a crossing and didnt make it. Pitchpoled, game over. You need a waterproof marine band HT Amazon. Standard makes one that has a GPS built in and DSC (digital selective calling) features. Push one button and the Coasties know you are in trouble and where you are. You can also keep up comms with a helo or a 47 footer while at the helm. http://www.walkietalkiestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=188_192&products_id=2026 Your recent adventure at Ilwaco sounds more like big wave surfing than boating. Be careful out there. See you at Ariel. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Hey Amazon, you coming to Ariel? Catching any fall run Chinooks? A buddy of mine fished the river near Redding CA and got limits 12 days in a row! Many big fish including one that was 42 lbs! Wonder if anyone is really gonna jump into Ariel? Jumping at your old Bay Area DZ this Saturday. I love jumping in the fall, warm, low winds, beautiful scenery. $20 to 13,500 ft in 2011 just amazes me. I dont see how the DZs can do it. Still waiting for Jo's blockbuster evidence. She has positioned it so that the FBI has to first complete some investigative task she will request, which of course they won't do. You all know the drill. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Orange wrote First, Snowmman is not repentant. No kneeling or begging will occur. He was offered indulgences at a rock bottom price but declined. Snow points out that Cooper demanded that the cash be delivered in a knapsack. It wasn't. That forced him to improvise and some cash may have come out. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote Jo, Glad to. Just PM me a mailing address and I'll send you a color copy of the article. It's fascinating reading. Braden was a complex guy. We are lucky that when he deserted and rebelled that he went to Africa as a merc. Imagine if he had decided to operate domestically against the govt that he thought gave him a raw deal. You will fail in your efforts to obtain investigative assistance from the FBI. I can almost guarantee it. Then what will you and your "guys" do? How about simply disclosing what you have? And about JT... Don't get so worked up about what he posts. You can just ignore it. His posts about you always convey the same message. You don't have to watch the same movie every day. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Military jumpers differ from skydivers in several key areas. One big difference is that military jumpers carry payloads. They train for this. It's not a huge deal on static line jumps but it is on HALO jumps like the SOG jumpers did. I've been sport jumping for 43 years and until I started doing jumps with radio telemetry gear I had never carried a payload. The Tena Bar money was most likely lost. Crooks don't throw money away. I know others think it was planted. If Braden were Cooper I think he would have come prepared to carry the cash. I don't think he would have lost any on the jump. He knew how to jump with external payloads. It's just speculation, but the Tena Bar money argues against Braden being Cooper. The eye color is another piece of evidence. Flo said Coopers eyes were Brown. I think Snow's find regarding the use of brown contact lenses in 73 by an FBI informant AIM infiltrator masquerading as a Native American is really impressive. He does it over and over again, finding unique info that we miss. Please let him back Quade. He has served enough time. l do appreciate that you push back against those who urge you to kill the forum. Most jumpers would applaud you if you shut it down. I haven't forgotten that. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

It's snowing a lot lately... Come on Quade, let Snow back on. Look at the value he adds. Give him a chance. He's been a long time in exhile. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Thanks for responding Allen. Can you recall how you first heard about the Air America 727 jumps? Who told you? Did you do any military or sport jumping in Viet Nam? Had you heard of the Saigon Sport Parachute Club? Did you ever run into Sheridan Peterson? Ex USMC and USFS Smoke Jumper, working in Viet Nam as a civilan refugee advisor for AID. He was also a sport jumper and jumped in Saigon. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Therre are allegations that Hoover was being blackmailed by both the Mafia and the CIA (see link bleow). I havent seen proof though. http://edgar-hoover.tripod.com/index.htm 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Allen, glad you are posting. Welcome to the forum. I am wondering what you thought when the Cooper skyjack occurred. Did you think of any likely suspects? Was Braden among them? Were you and/or others that you knew in the military aware that jumps had been made from Air America 727's over Thailand? If yes, how was this info discovered and when? There are videos of the 727 jumps which were S/L. You can find them on YouTube or I can give you a link. I'll tell you where I am going with this. I speculate that Cooper HAD to know a 727 could be jumped. Without that knowledge there was too high a risk that the plane would become a jail cell, no way out until landing and then a showdown with law enforcement that the skyjacker would lose. We know that 727 test jumps were made during the Viet Nam war. We don't know whether 727 operational jumps were made. Who knew about the 727 jumps? I think Cooper likely knew and I am trying to find out the source of his presumed knowledge. Rumors about unusual jumpships travel fast among jumpers. A guy got to do a pirate jump from a large commuter turboprop airliner on a ferry flight. Within days the info was circulating in the skydiving community. Was it like that with the Air America 727 jumps? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

If we could just change his eye color (and favorite cigarettes) we would have a plausible suspect. Ted had the skills, a criminal background and a need for money. He was adept at hopping around internationally too. The eye color is a show stopper unless the witnesses got Cooper's eye color wrong or Cooper was using colored contacts. When you have to start bending evidence to fit a suspect it's time to step back and rethink things. It's interesting that Billy Waugh, an SOG guy, immediately thought of Braden when Norjack went down. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Agree Orange. He is far more anti social than some of our other suspects. He obsessses about money and always seems short of it. Those darn blue eyes though. Could Coopers extended bathroom visit have been connected with contact lenses? Occam is tapping me on the shoulder and giving me a disapproving look. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

And Q also drew a bead on Farflung, blipped the gunsight laser and said "Behave yourself boy, we are watching you." Just being cool and hunky wasn't going to get Farflung off the watch list. He sat down, poured himself a double Bourbon. He read the Ramparts article and started thinking about Africa. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Baby it's cold outside: 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Some of you newcomers may not have seen this. It's a masterpiece. Snowmman is a suspected author but he will not admit it. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV40OIFQmIw&feature=youtube_gdata_player 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Bruce wrote Sure does. Can't wait to hear more. Maybe he was on Ho Chi Minh's payroll this time around. Reason with Galen. He has to come. The forum outcasts (banned by Q) need to get some special tshirts screened. I was hoping Farflung could come up with a good graphic. They can be numbered serially. Does Snow get number one or am I forgetting that someone preceded him? We need Orange and Vicki to come to Ariel. They can nullify the claims that this CooperVvortex is nothing but a bunch of old guys with nothing better to do than speculate about DBC and insult each other. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

ClassClown wrote Hard to tell. The evidence has been deleted. Move along folks. Nothing to see here... 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

It's a dead zone for everyone Jo. But some folks like dead zones. Zombies for example. I'll miss Blevins and Georger. Seriously. Quade is sterilizing the forum. What is left will be polite, civil, a model of Internet decorum, but barren. I don't have any inside info Jo. I know parachute stuff and airplane stuff, but that's it. I hope readers will check out the Braden links Snow sent me and I replayed. Just go back up a few posts. The CIA conspiracy nuts will have a field day. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.