dudeman17

Nope.

Where was that at? I just saw your post at Shutter's site. Only a couple other posts on this site so far, apparently the word isn't out yet?

Actually it does. It has accurately predicted so many things about science, medicine, biology, astronomy, human history, and human nature. It predicted you and what you just said to Ron. Good luck with your extended vacation at the lake.

That patch is interesting. Yes the '#5' would be consistent with student gear. That 'M... Johnson' written on it is likely the previous owner. But that the patch says both 'SSS' and 'Coss' is interesting. I've always been of the understanding that Emrich was the dz owner and that Cossey was his hired rigger. Student training is bread and butter for the dz business, so the dz runs the school. But that the patch also says 'Coss' makes me wonder, was he partners with Emrich in the business? Some dz's are owned by non-jumping pilots. It's a flying business, and they can fly a lot and still be at home. If Emrich is such, then maybe. But if Emrich is a jumper and instructor, there is no way in hell that he mistakenly grabs that dummy and doesn't know what it is. Ain't happening. My thought is that, especially after learning that the backs are pilot rigs and can't accommodate reserves anyways, yeah, he grabs the cheapest stuff, including that dummy, intentionally. But he wouldn't want the FBI to know that. Why do any of us know that? When the plane lands in Reno, that thing is gone, and that fact should have remained unknown. Why would Cossey blab that to a reporter? I'm sure Emrich had words with him about that, and his statement 'I didn't realize it at the time' is CYA. I also don't buy that they didn't know a hijacking was occurring. Parachutes are specialty devices, you need training and experience to use them. Cossey and Emrich are not going to lend out rigs just for the asking. The flight service guy had to at least explain something like 'I dunno, but there's a jetliner sequestered on the tarmac and the FBI is involved'. ----------------- Yes. It was 120 days for quite a while, but a few years ago it went to 180 days. Some countries have it at a year.

Thank you for that. Owner, Seattle Sky Sports, so that's not Cossey's, that belongs to the dropzone, most likely one of the student reserves. I would've guessed that repack cycles in that era would've been 90 days, but someone posted something here recently that indicated it might be 60 days. So it's either in date or just out of date, meaning it was currently in service.

A couple questions: The good reserve, the one the FBI has... 1. Did either Cossey or Emrich ever ask to get that back? 2. Are there pictures or documentation of it's packing card? I'd be curious what the last repack date on it was.

Unless that is definitively documented I don't buy it. Emrich owns the dz and the jump school. (He is a jumper and instructor, right?) He owns all the student gear and training aids. He knows that dummy reserve drunk, in the dark, and half asleep. Sure, Cossey put the dummy together, and he maintains the student gear and packs the reserves, because he's the rigger. But it's Emrich's stuff and he would know it cold.

I can personally attest (shhh...)

For what it's worth... Unless it is specifically documented otherwise, my educated guess is that the front reserves belonged to Emrich, not Cossey. Here's why - Cossey is contacted and offers his gear. So he calls Emrich and tells him to get it. But Emrich is then contacted and told that they have the back ones, he just needs to send the fronts. He likely asks 'where did you get those', and if he's told 'some pilot the flight service guy knows', then he knows that those are bailout rigs and the front reserves can't be used anyways. So why would he give his friend's, his rigger's, personal reserve when he's got a rack full of student gear? That student gear is nobody's personal gear that will be missed, he's got more of it and it is easily replaced. That would also explain the dummy reserve. It's for some dirtbag hijacker, it's the cheapest thing he's got, and it can't be used with the bailout rig anyways. Cossey wouldn't own that, why would he? That's for student training, the student stuff belongs to the dropzone which belongs to Emrich. Emrich knows what those rigs are, he knows what's in them, maybe that's where the first 'flat circular' comes from, from the good reserve. (That's the one the FBI has, does anyone know what that canopy is?) ----------------- For the purposes of this thread, "I & R" stand for "Iterate & Reiterate".

That building was jumped a fair amount while it was under construction.

No, it's not that big of a deal, but I & R most assuredly stands for Inspect & Repack. Some riggers used to write 'A.I.R.' for Air, Inspect & Repack, because they would hang the canopy up for a while to air it out and let the 'set' from the previous pack job come out. If I & R (or A.I.R.) was all that was written, then that's all they had to do, check it out and repack it. Any repairs, alterations, or component replacements would be noted specifically.

Yes that's all true but what I was thinking is that Cossey's rig would most likely be green. I guess it depends when they started making B-4's. All the old skydiving movies I've seen from the 60's - early 70's, the vast majority of gutter gear rigs are that military green, so that tan rig would be an outlier. You're better at detailed internet searches than I am, but what I found was a lot of older rigs from the 40's were that tan color, but the earliest B-4 I found was a '52 and it was still green.

Another inconsistency is that Cossey says he was contacted later that night after the plane landed in Reno, and when they described the chute left on the plane, he deduced that Cooper took his bailout rig. But they would have described Hayden's rig, which wouldn't match his sport rig? So why didn't he question that? Is that documented? Is it possible that Emrich did send Cossey's back rigs (but they still gave Hayden's to Cooper)? That might extend the time that Cossey still thinks it's his rigs that were given. ----------------- Yes, but olemiss is referring to that the make, model, and serial number written on the card refers to the canopy. A nitpick, but I & R stands for Inspect & Repack. Any repairs would be noted separately.

They could be conflating two different chutes in two different rigs on two different cards. It's that "also an integral part of this chute" line that gets me. But they wouldn't know any info about the pilot chute unless they opened the rig and got the info off of the part itself. *Shrug*

Dance the Night Away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llWp9M8MDgg (how do you embed that?)

Mine too. Those 26' Navy Conicals were a very common reserve canopy. I don't know this for fact, but I'm guessing they were the standard canopy in a NB6. ----------------- This has always bugged me. It describes a Pioneer 26' conical. Then it describes the 24(?) Steinthal, "also an integral part of this chute". That has to be the pilot chute, and a typo '24 foot' rather than 24 inch. There is nothing else in that rig that that could possibly be. Bailout rigs do not have 2 full size canopies in them, but they do have pilot chutes, necessary to deploy them. ----------------- To anyone other than a rigger or experienced jumper, ALL backpack rigs, bailout reserve or freefall main, are 'similar'. They're just not that complicated - harness, back container, ripcord. ----------------- Standard issue is that on a bailout rig, the ripcord would be on the left, on a freefall main it would be on the right. Not sure why Gryder's rig would have that ripcord housing loop on the left. For someone converting a bailout rig to a freefall main, the question is about adding the D-rings to the harness for a front reserve. Every part of a reserve system has to be tested and pass FAA TSO standards. That is an involved process that the manufacturer of the harness/container would have to do, and approve the method of adding them. That could have happened, but seems unlikely. ----------------- Highly unlikely that Cossey would pack Hayden's rigs 'off the books'. Even if Hayden were to be killed crashing his plane and not jumping, everything, including his bailout rig, would be inspected. For Cossey to put his name on an unofficial, non-legal pack job could cost him his rigger's ticket at the least.

[[Sorry, not a word association, but an interesting story. That ugly pink helicopter in the Riptide show was called the Screaming Mimi. They brought it out to Perris and we got to jump it! Carry on...]]

Flyjack confirms he was a pilot and instructor. If he flew loads for the dz, he would need a bailout rig. As an instructor, it was not an uncommon practice to wear a bailout rig while putting out static-line students. To wear his full sport rig with front reserve would be bulky, cumbersome, and in the way. Especially in a smaller plane it would be easier to wear the bailout rig, put out the s/l students and ride the plane down.

As I've always said, you guys are way ahead of me in detailing out the specifics of what, where, and from who as pertains to the particulars of this case. What I know about it is what I read from you guys. My goal, my 2-cent contribution is to flesh out your understanding of it with general information on parachutes and parachuting. In your first post, you said that 'rounds are not conicals, they're different'. I was pointing out that conicals are rounds. You are correct in your subsequent posts. Flat circulars and conicals are different types of rounds. Para-Commanders and similar types are also rounds, as are the T-10's and similar paratrooper canopies. Even those newer, squared-off looking T-whateverhteyares they use for low-altitude static-line paratroopers these days are round type parachutes. 'Square' refers to the ram-air inflated-wing type canopies more prevalent today. Cossey's thing has always been a mystery. Sure, it could be an honest mistake, at the first phone call he thinks he's donating his rigs. But if those weren't actually taken, surely he would know that the next time he goes to the dropzone and finds them still there. So why doesn't he correct that knowledge? Good question? Is it possible that they did take them, but gave Hayden's rigs to Cooper? If so, that might explain Cossey's confusion, but then what happened to Cossey's rigs? ??? And sure, when the military orders a batch of NB6's, they're going to come with their matching 26' canopies. But when those rigs go to the civilian market, the riggers are free to mix-and-match things as they see fit. Putting a smaller 24' canopy in it would make it a more comfortable rig, which would likely be desirable for the civilian pilot. How common that actually was I don't know. Ryan's rigger or Jeff at Kapowsin might have an opinion on that.

I think there was talk somewhere of Cossey modifying one of his rigs, but it was to move the location of the ripcord handle, ostensibly to put it more out of reach of nervous static-line students he was putting out.

Good to see you in here again Flyjack. Just a couple general notes: A conical is indeed a round. The difference is in the side profile. Seen from the side, a normal 'flat circular' round looks like an upside down bowl, whereas a conical looks kinda-sorta like an upside down funnel. But they are both 'round' parachutes, as seen form the top or bottom. Within reason, a smaller canopy can be put into a larger container, as long as there is enough bulk to maintain the integrity of the pack job and keep some tension on the closing pins. It would result in a softer, more flexible rig, which would make it more comfortable for the wearer.

So who bought it? Just a domain broker buying the name?

I remember that story, and didn't they also claim that the plane was flying very low? Which doesn't fit the standard Cooper narrative. It's a stretch, and I don't know what kind of area they were in, but dropping flare(s?), is it possible they saw a forestry crew lighting a control fire? Do they do that from airplanes? On drizzly nights not during fire season? I dunno... Yes, aircraft have a red blinking light on one side and a green one on the other, so other air traffic can see each other and identify which way they're going. But that's standard, and shouldn't stand out as unusual for anyone seeing it fly by. Did those people mysteriously disappear after coming forward with their story, hehe?