Robert99

In Due Time! They better HURRY! NO one is going to reveal the truth until I after I have died - they might not have to wait much longer! Jo, You started playing the health card almost 10 years ago. Then about two or three years ago you started playing the one-foot-in-the-grave card. Now you seem to be coming out with the both-feet-in-the-grave card. Using "remote viewing", I can see the headlines in the Florida panhandle newspapers, and maybe even the network TV news programs, about 30 years from now to the effect that: "Jo Weber died today at the age of 104. She is noted for having spent the last 50+ years of her life trying to prove that her late husband, Duane Weber, was the famous airliner hijacker D. B. Cooper. She wrote 12 books on her attempts to link Duane Weber with the hijacking. Two years ago, during an appearance on a cable TV talk show, she admitted that she may have misunderstood what Duane whispered to her while on his death bed. She now feels that there is a possibility that Duane was simply saying that his room was too cool and wanted her to turn the thermostat up a few degrees. A life long marathon runner, at the age of 80 she established a new record for her age group in the New York City Marathon. She has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Oregon Order of Carmelite Nuns. She also requested that her ashes be scattered at Tina Bar on the banks of the Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington." Robert99

Blevins, My translation from the above Blevins-speak is that you want someone else to do your research. In the meantime, you are working on a book to blow the lid right off the Cooper thread by exposing the phonies here who do not buy your theories much less your books (including the forthcoming one). Here's a question for you. If Geestman "has consistently lied about practically EVERYTHING" then, using your logic, when Geestman stated that KC could have been Cooper he was actually saying that KC was NOT Cooper. But you will probably give Geestman the benefit of a doubt on that quote since you need it to support your theories about KC. And you state that you are holding back information from others, presumably including the FBI. So it is safe to assume that anything you are holding back is not relevant to KC or the Cooper investigation. Otherwise, you would have already used that information to support your theories about KC. Robert99

Blevins, Your ability to jump to conclusions using cherry picked information is truly amazing. Where is your proof that NWA was a poor paying airline? The 1950s and 1960s were part of the Golden Age of airline flying. At the same NWA event where Rataczak made the comments discussed earlier today, a number of people (I think including Rataczak) described a long family connection with NWA. I believe that Rataczak's father also worked for NWA, maybe as a mechanic. This doesn't sound like people were being forced to work for NWA. But where is your evidence that NWA pay scales were any lower than PAA, TWA, and other airlines of that day. And inflation helped any number of people make money in real estate. Could you be a bit more specific about what Bernie did with respect to the aft stairs on the 727s? Who has said that Bernie knew the 727 stairs could be lowered in flight? Did the CIA advertise that information in the Seattle PI? Just some facts to support your claims please. Robert99

Jo, You have given me credit above for a lot of things that I didn't do. There are no coordinates given in the flight transcripts for the portion of the airliner flight between Seattle and Portland, and that is a major part of the problem. I did notice an anomaly between the 1971 maps and the present day maps in the area of the supposed jump zone. Farflung solved the problem by pointing out that all you had to do was move several towns about two or three miles west to get their locations on the 1971 maps to match their locations on the present day maps. And Farflung posted some beautiful pictures of the maps to illustrate his point. I have not personally posted a map to this thread and I have not been in contact with Himmelsbach although I have read his book. Nevertheless, things are being done off line and maybe you will be informed of them in due time. Robert99

Blevins, So your very own "official position" is that the so-called FBI maps show the "official flight path" and that they are correct? Have you been able to come up with an explanation as to why Himmelsbach reportedly never saw those maps until recently? And why no one at the Seattle FBI office apparently knows where they came from? You are correct that I shouldn't be discussing this with you. That's a waste of time isn't it? Finally, are you suggesting that I am a neutral source and you are not? Robert99

Blevins, Could you explain what, if anything, you mean by the above statement instead of just changing the subject? Robert99 I didn't 'change the subject'. I responded to your post. And no. Okay. Just this: I pointed out that Rataczak gave a number on how far the airstairs would naturally drop if activated in flight. The Boeing guy talked about the width of the same opening under the same conditions. Not exactly a big deal point. Since Cooper wasn't discovered on board when the plane landed in Reno, it's obvious he went out the hole somehow. And I still think it's possible he BACKED down the stairs, although that's another small point and unproven. Blevins, The width of the aft stairs and the associated fuselage opening is constant and doesn't have anything to do with whether the stairs are full down, in transition, or up and locked. You should take a look at the pictures of the FBI tests to get an idea of how far the stairs would open with someone standing on the bottom step. And whether Cooper backed down the stairs is not a matter of any consequence. Robert99

Well...like I said...maybe someone should talk to him about this. He was pretty free at that recent NWA Minneapolis gathering about doing Cooper Talk. His address and phone are public record, although he screens the calls. Some posters here have suggested that I contact him, and I really thought about it. But I came to the conclusion that this job would be better served by a pilot, and someone who hasn't done a book on Cooper. You know...someone more neutral. Here's a basic tenet of investigations that even I know: When you have a dispute with a known source, and aren't sure of the facts...go back to the source. In this case, it would be Rataczak. Blevins, Whether you realize it or not, you imply in the last paragraph above that you have a dispute with Rataczak about the flight path and aren't sure of the facts. I believe it was at the same NWA gathering that you reference above that Rataczak stated that he was the only living person who knew which side of Portland the airliner was on when it passed by. Taken at face value, this means that Rataczak does not support the flight path shown on the so-called FBI maps. Robert99

Blevins, Could you explain what, if anything, you mean by the above statement instead of just changing the subject? Robert99

Blevins, The aft stairs move vertically and not laterally. Therefore, Rataczak was referring to a "height" movement and not a "width" movement. Why don't you visit the Air Museum in Seattle and see what a 727's aft stairs look like. Robert99

Smokin, If the land deed records are not available through the local courthouse, or even if they are, microfilms of those records may be available through the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The Family History Library's online site would probably have them indexed by county and date. Then the microfilm could be borrowed through a local Family History Center where it could be viewed and a copy made of the desired records. Robert99

You are correct. But he paid off the note in 1972. I wonder how he managed that? It's a mystery for sure. Blevins, If you have read at least some of the posts on this thread, then you surely know that airline cockpit and cabin crews are only permitted to fly a certain number of hours each month. In the post WW2 era, it was about 80 hours per month. For personnel working long haul international routes, such as KC was doing, their permissible flight time could easily be met in 10 to 14 days. This means that KC probably had 2 or 2.5 weeks of time away from NWA each month to pursue other money making ventures. Who knows what KC was doing during his free time from NWA? But he could have been in Las Vegas gambling, working on a fishing boat, smuggling people from south of the border, or taking care of his coin collection (or whatever it was) and making wise investments. Do you have copies of KC's income tax returns for the entire period of time that you are talking about? If you claim you do, then explain why he kept copies of his tax returns for 30+ years, which is about 10 times the recommended time to keep those returns. You simply have not produced anything of significance to support your claim that KC's money came from the hijacking. Robert99

I think that your reply was meant for Blevins, but part of my response to Blevins apparently didn't register with you. Here in plain written English, with no Canadian accent, is a repeat of that response. KC, as a purser, would NOT have had anything to do with what was written on that weather map. And KC would NOT have written it, which means that it is NOT KC's handwriting. This, in turn, means that your claims to having matched it to KC's handwriting from elsewhere is nonsense. Robert99

Blevins, As has been discussed to death here, that map is NOT a "flight map". It is a simple sketch of meteorological information and was probably done by the flight dispatcher or the aircraft navigator or both. KC would not have anything to do with the preparation of that map. Robert99

The pattern goes back to August 1, 2010, which is the day Blevins joined this thread.

Well put.

Blevins, What a magnanimous gesture for you to now offer to endorse Bruce Smith's book despite your previous threats of legal action over what you now describe as a "minor passage" in Bruce's book! And your people are even willing to edit Bruce's book? Bruce, BEWARE of a RobertMBlevins bearing "gifts"! Blevins is just trying to position himself as doing a "good" deed for someone who doesn't need his help. Bruce, if you accepted Blevins' offer, in just a few weeks, someone other than yourself would be claiming that they wrote your entire book. Robert99

Blevins, Am I crazy for pointing out to you that your claim about the accuracy of the so-called FBI flight path is nonsense? Even the FBI people, reportedly including Himmelsbach himself, don't know where that map originated or who prepared it. Then there is the little matter of the internal contradictions of the data that is on that map. Even a science fiction writer should be able to understand at least some of those contradictions. Further, it is obvious that you have no understanding whatsoever of what Tom Kaye did in his experiments and what his conclusions are regarding how the money arrived at Tena Bar. Kaye's conclusions are reported on his web page, which you apparently have not bothered to even read. Kaye eliminates the Washougal wash down theory, to which you apparently subscribe, as a possible means for the money to arrive at Tena Bar. And the fact that Kaye did not find diatoms on the bills as expected, suggests to him that the money had never been exposed to the Columbia River water in the first place. In view of your stated interest in the Cooper hijacking, did you attend Kaye's lecture on the hijacking at the recent opening of the museum exhibit? You would have learned something if you had gone. Of course, constantly repeating the same lame stories is your way of operating. When was the last time, or would it be the first time, that you presented any meaningful information on the Cooper hijacking? You couldn't even resist pushing your KC book in the post to which I am responding. Robert99

Rataczak is/was a company guy. That carries with it certain legal stipulations, by contract. Some say these are lifetime restrictions. Never mind there is also a criminal case involved! That is the first-fact about Bill Rataczak, and all the other crew members. How long that stays in force, I dont know. If you have made a study of "body language" (I have and I'll bet 377 and others on this thread who are in similar professions also have), then a picture taken probably a day or so after the hijacking is very revealing. That picture was taken at a press conference (Seattle?, Minneapolis?) and shows the three pilots seated at a table and directly facing the unseen newspaper types. All three pilots have their arms folded across their chests. Arms folded across the chest in such a situation means that the individual(s) have "closed" up and are no longer open for business (such as this press conference). The three flight attendants were also seated at the same table and, if I remember correctly, one flight attendant was looking in the general direction of the reporters, one attendant basically had her back to the reporters, and the third one was seated sideways to the reporters. Basically, they gave the impression that they were not interested in what was going on and had tuned out just as the pilots had. I would suspect that all six of those people had been briefed by NWA management before the press conference. Robert99

Blevins, Hold your horses here. My mention of you was only to warn the new poster not to buy your book. I did use the word "cases" in reference to two long time posters here whose initials are Bob Knoss and Jo Weber. Overall, I was just passing The Wisdom Of The Ages to the new poster. Robert99

This is one good reason why someone should go to the source and ask a few questions. And if Himmelsbach had so little faith in the map, then why did the FBI and the US Army end up mounting a big search in the Ariel area? They could have used airplane data too! Do you know of they were given food and water? The flight recorder data was recorded on a looping tape that recorded over the old data about every hour or so. So the crew would have to pull the circuit breaker on the flight recorder to stop it within that hour or so if they intended to preserve that data. If the jump was at about 8:15 PM, then they would need to pull that circuit breaker by no later than about 9:00 PM to preserve any meaningful data. The plane landed in Reno a few minutes after 11:00 PM. Another big question is did the 1971 flight data recorders record flight navigational information? If not, the data wouldn't mean much. Robert99

Shutter, the following is on pages 46, 47, and 48 of Himmelsbach's book. The first chase aircraft for the airliner was a USAF T-33 on a night training mission out of Portland International. It took off to the west and was shortly afterwards directed toward Lake Oswego where it ended up about three miles behind the hijacked airliner. But the two pilots on board never had visual contact with the airliner. The book states that two F-102s were dispatched from the Idaho Air National Guard in Boise but did not make contact with the airliner. The book also states that two F-106s took off from Hamilton AFB in California but did not see the airliner. Only the C-130, which was also from Hamilton AFB, was able to make contact and it stayed with the airliner until it landed in Reno. On page 47, Himmelsbach states that the National Guard helicopter, with him onboard, took off from Portland International and flew south. On page 42, Himmelsbach describes the helicopter lift-off from Portland International as follows: "We lifted off, did a sharp climbing turn to the right, and headed for the position where we thought the jet might be. I looked down just as we passed over southwest Portland and my home in West Linn." So both the T-33 and Himmelsbach's helicopter were headed to the southwest side of Portland and the Lake Oswego and West Linn areas. No one went to the east or north. Shutter, a PM is enroute to you. Robert99

Blevins, As reported on this thread several dozen times previously, Rataczak has made a public statement within the last year or two that he is the ONLY one who knows which side of Portland the airliner was on when it went by. Does that sound like a ringing endorsement for the "official flight path"? Robert99

Blevins, Please remind me again why you have so much confidence in the so-called FBI flight path? Robert99

Blevins, What is your source for the above statement? Where were the SAGE radar antennas located? On the Soderlind matter again, Soderlind had reportedly worked up his estimate of the jump point before the airliner even landed in Reno. Robert99

Blevins, Have you even bothered to read Soderlind's write-up on the radar accuracies he used in coming up with the original jump location? If you have, then why don't you list them here as well as specify the location site of the radar that produced his data? I am not your nursemaid and I am not going to do your homework for you. Nor am I interested in being your "pen pal". I am fortunate enough to have "pen pals" who do know what they are talking about and I had rather talk to them. Robert99