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I'm in. Who is your rigger? I can send the NB 8 to him or her. Its stock military: no deployment sleeve, no D rings for a reserve. You'd better arrange to have an emergency right over Ariel. I don't think a sport jump with only one canopy is legal. If you get a typical jumpship it's always an emergency so no worries. I think a sunset jump would be best. You need to see and be seen. A night jump would be more authentic but let's give you a reasonable chance of having a beer with the gang rather than a date with an orthopedic surgeon or a coroner. When you land and are mobbed by reporters your name is Robert Blevins. Can someone get a Google Earth shot of the area around the Ariel Tavern and post a link? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Still miss Pope Valley a lot. It was magic. Other closed CA DZs: Santa Rosa, Crazy Creek, Santa Nella, Calistoga, Paradise. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I had two Raven IIs as reserves and decided to jump a rented rig with a Raven II as a main, to see what the ride was like. Here is what I found: 1. Built in right turn, even with slack brake lines and good body symetry in the harness. Had to crank in some opposing toggle to fly straight. 2. Really lousy flare, and the main wasn't old and worn out. It kind of ran out of flare power way before it should have compared to other F 111 canopies I have jumped. I got a bonus that year and used it to buy two PD reserves. I later had a cutaway and the PD 193R flew and landed like a dream. I just didn't want a quirky canopy as my reserve. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Farflung wrote If you had been Arnold Schwarzenegers Chief of "Staff", he'd have avoided a lot of trouble Farflung. As a democrat, I am pleased that he did not have the benefit of your expert counseling. Well, we called Belvins' bluff. I hope he declines. Gayla would kick his butt if he were injured doing such a foolish thing. I'll offer to do a BASE jump off the tavern porch with my NB8. How's that for courage? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote: Don't let the lack of a rig hold you back Robert. I have a stock NB8 bailout rig ready to go with a never jumped C9 canopy. No reserve, but you want the Cooper reenactment jump to be authentic, right? It's easy, just jump out of the plane and pull the ripcord. After that there are a few challenges that may arise... but I am sure you will figure them out. I'll be waiting below with your cold beer. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo wrote: If the FBI pursued all your leads Jo they'd have to hire a lot of new agents. Do you really think anybody will respond to your request to research Taylor and Ford without you revealing their relevance to Norjack? TEASE CHECK: you recently stated that you were about to unveil blockbuster evidence that "the FBI can not ignore." Status? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote What if I just walk in from the woods and claim I made the jump? I'll talk about dairy pails, boats, railroad hand cars, pipelines and lookout towers. Will that suffice? Someone probably will make the jump. All that media is a big draw for one seeking fame. Maybe there is a big clear landing area. Hmmm. I should look at Google Earth before I decline immortatlity. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote Nahhh. As I age I've become a more cautious jumper. I've made a few "wilderness" jumps from aircraft such as a balloon and an ancient wooden sailplane, but these days I prefer a nice clear familiar DZ where no hard to see power lines or other hazards lay in wait to turn my kids into heirs. I once landed in a K Mart parking lot in Illinois and no Airtwardo, it wasn't a demo jump. It's a long story. I got tagged "Blue Light Special" by the locals. I'll volunteer Snowmann or Amazon. They'd go. I'd watch. Or... the Ariel Tavern could pony up and hire Airtwardo. He'd do it for sure. It's amazing what some USPA Pro rated demo jumpers will do for a few hundred bucks. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Belvins' offer of a free download of his book is downright generous and for that I thank him. The least I can do to reciprocate is buy him some beer at the Ariel Tavern and I plan to do just that. When I read the 727 system manual I am struck with how much thought went into backup systems and fail safe or fail gently and recoverable designs. The 727 would weigh a LOT less without all that "safety stuff". People fly around all the time in single engine private planes, but the FAA will never approve a large single engine passenger aircraft. Too bad, I think the public shold be able to take risks that save money if they are fully informed. There was an interesting fuel efficient design kicked around a few years ago for an airliner with one big engine tail mounted and a much smaller one below it, like center engine position on a DC 10 or L 1011. The plane could taxy on the small engine and start the big one right before takeoff. If the main engine failed the small one would deliver enough thrust to maintain level flight at lower altitudes and give the plane at least one shot at a landing. I dont mind flying in risky jumpships once they get high enough for everyone to exit and deploy their chutes. I've had a few white knuckle moments in tired old Lodestars and Twin Beeches struggling to get off the ground on a hot day with a heavy load. I've grown older and wiser and decline those loads now days. I sat one out at WFFC when the ATL 98 Carvair (DC 4 double decker mod) did a mid day load with air temps at around 98 degrees. They used up literally every inch of runway at Rantoul and damn near clipped the trees trying to climb out. If one engine had failed or even had a power reduction at this phase of the flight there would have been a disaster. Farflung must be some kind academic or reearch scholar with all this emphasis on verifying sources. My history professor was just like him. "Without a proper citation you might as well just make up your facts" he lectured us. My classmate, a fellow skydiver, leaned over and whispered "f**k him, I don't have time for that. I'll just make up my citations." I do wish a real scholar would write the definitive DB Cooper book, separating rumor from fact, checking and verifying sources, all that stuff that Farflung likes. I'd buy one. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Jo, What's getting you so worked up about the stairs discussion? Nobody here is disputing that they contacted the pavement while landing (or taxying) at Reno. The analysis as to which method was used to initially extend them seems solid and lines up with the crew observations. You have gone into color text mode, a sure sign of emotional stress. Take it easy. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Good question. Is it possible that their extension angle was determined by airspeed? When the plane came to a halt on the ground they had no slipstream pushing them upwards. In the FBI sled test photos (taken from the chase aircraft) the unloaded and loaded stair deflection angles should be visible. I sure wish Ckret had been able to post the video of the sled test. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I have found an additional diagram showing the emergency pneumatic blow down system for the 727-172 airstair. I've added it to the site below. It shows up as giant sized but if you click on the image you'll get a readable format. see: https://sites.google.com/site/boeing727172airstairs/ 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

That "pump it" poster is classic Farflung. The USAF should have had you editing the Dash One manuals. Those system schematics would have received far greater attention had you been given editorial command. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I am liking this. Toss a little bit of 727-1** systems manual and Monday morning engineering into our forum and tempers calm down, Clydesdales go back to the barn and we ponder Cooper related facts rather than attacking each other. I like reading aircraft manuals. It has a calming effect as I try to figure out the complex systems. My favorite is the Convair B 36H. Six 28 cylinder radial engines and four turbojets. Endless dials, gauges, switches and levers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36 and check out its cargo carrying prototype, the XC 99 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_XC-99 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I've seen no photos of 727 airdrops with the stairs deployed other than the FBI flight test with the "sled". The DC 9 I jumped had the stairs removed and a steel slide installed to make a mass serial exit easy. The slide extended only to the edge of the fuselage and did not protrude into the airstream. In the Air America/Southern Air video above, I liked seeing an old Beech 18 flying in tight formation with a 727. That Beech must have been firewalled and the 727 just above Vmc. I jumped from many Beech 18s. I watched the late Mike Rust do a full Bob Hoover type aerobatics demo in a Beech 18, which was amazing. He even did a low slow roll with one engine feathered. Farflung, don't kill our fantasy that Cooper was a Nam vet special ops bourbon drinking HALO qualified badass, with a grudge and knowledge that a 727 was indeed jumpable. We want him to be James Bond, not Duane Weber. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Farflung, The analysis of the stair operation wasnt mine, I just reposted naturehominid's post from the DB Cooper Reserach Group (on Yahoo Groups). Here is the next one he made: 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

From another site which somehow is free of flame wars and concentrates on Cooper. Naturehominid posted this after perusing the mini website I constructed regarding the 727-100 series airstair system. I think he did a great job, but I expected that as he and I graduated from the same engineering school.b 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

It's quite a bit more than one page, but the ratio of useful facts to irrelevant diatribe is pitifully low. In communication theory this is called signal to noise ratio (S/N). This forum is a very noisy channel. I point to the recent Clydesdale arguments as an example. Someday Cooper's ID will be discovered. When it is, people will cherry pick from forum posts and say "I told you so." It's like saving up a million paper slips from fortune cookies. You can back plot after the fact and find a prediction to fit a later occurrence. Meanwhile the mystery is an amusing hobby for most. Some go a bit deeper. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

No. 1 Lockheed Electra No. 2. Piaggio Avanti? Beech Starship? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Farflung wrote In Northern Calif in the 60s that Jeep was an Army motorcycle and grease was "Cosmoline." The motorcycle nuts were inevitably disappointed but the radio nuts found an abundance of brand new WW2 radio gear in the original packing and it sold for peanuts. As late as 1972 Standard Surplus on Market St in SF was giving away a brand new USN WW2 aircraft HF transmitter with each purchase of $20. Surplus military parachute gear was plentiful as well and gave skydivers a very cheap way to gear up. It required some rigger mods to be suitable for sport jumping but they were simple and cheap. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Did Marla Cooper's uncle have this comic cover on his wall? (see attached) What has become of Marla? I do worry about her. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Georger wrote: CB sponge? Hmmm. Duane's alleged CB "handle" (World's Greatest Jock Carrier) is still a puzzle. Must be code. Jo is adept at decoding, so have at it Jo. 10-4? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Blevins wrote I think Jerry is US Army retired, Special Forces. Sheridan Peterson was a Marine. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Happy birthday Pat. Your book was a big help to me (back in the day when dinosaurs roamed the DZ). 377 First jump 1968. Still jumping and no titanium. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

*** Smokin99 said it well Robert. Don't let flamers run you out of town. You live here, you're a local. Cool off over the weekend and come back for a visit next week. I hope you'll reconsider your decision about Portland and Ariel. I was thinking of coming and wanted to say hi and buy you a beer. Geoff asked if I would talk at his symposium. I am thinking about it. I would limit my talk to hardware, i.e. Jet jumps, C9s, Paracommanders, NB6 and NB8 rigs, etc. I've jumped from a jet and jumped old military gear. I can talk about that stuff. Speculating about Cooper's ID is kinda pointless. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.