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DB Cooper

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Here are some Boeing 727 operating parameters:

See attached photo of a 727 placard. They all have them just below the gear handle. No secret.

The highest speed associated with gear and flaps is the Gear Extended Velocity of 320 knots.

With a measly 2 degrees of flaps the operating limit is 230 knots. That is with the gear up or down. A full 90 knots less than the max speed with the gear extended.

Demanding 25 degrees of flaps would have insured the low airspeed Cooper was trying to accomplish. Additionally, the flaps are quite easy to observe deployed versus the gear.

If Cooper truly knew what any person with access to a 727 cockpit could glean from a placard, he did not take advantage of this information.

The gear down to slow a plane is Hollywood.

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Cooper, with a few commands, made a successful exit and chute deployment likely. He'd be low enough and slow enough to pull it off.

377



I wonder why the crew didnt just retire to the
back and sip Colas with Tina on Rat's lap,
and let Cooper fly the plane, with all his
experience! Too bad you werent there to
advise them and let Cooper fly the plane off
by himself ... a piece of cake for this Ace.

Scott's speeches and interviews after must be a
total fabrication. No turbulence. No fine pilotry.
No confusion over instructions via the "interphone".

This wasn;t a hijacking! This was a comedic
musical set in a 727 conducted by a Meastro
with a few waves of his hand. Picasso in a
parachute! Duane in hob nail boots. And
cosmetics by Ace@ left ever'where!

I guess it takes an expert to know one.

:P

By comparison, McCoy was a novice.

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'By comparison, McCoy was a novice.'


Well, stopping to get something to eat instead of toughing it out with a half-million in cash doesn't make him the Sharpest Tool in the Shed.

FBI sez:
Quote

'Incriminating evidence mounted against McCoy. In trying to trace the steps the hijacker took after parachuting into the rural area surrounding Provo, a lead was developed. When shown McCoy's photograph an employee at a roadside hamburger stand said she had sold him a milkshake at about 11:30 on the night of the crime. In addition, a teenager stated that a man fitting McCoy's description paid him five dollars for a ride from the stand to a nearby town...'



Not a smart move. He should have shouldered that heavy bag with the half-mil, stayed out of sight, and hiked home on his own.

Quote

'Do you have FRESH strawberries for your milkshakes...' B|



rather than cherry pick as you always do, finish
the story.

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Georger if you are in the loop why haven't you told us about this? Who is the NEW suspect?
What is the BIG secret - the FBI never kept a suspect quiet very long in the past? What is so special about this one?

I have a feeling it is Sheridan someone is referring to simply because of the DNA. A suspect whose name has NEVER come up before? Wonder if the FBI reads this thread - just about everyone has been a suspect at one time or another on the thread...even 377.

Could also be a jumper we discussed briefly a few pages ago that used to jump at Issaqua and who died a few yrs ago...I did talk to him briefly after someone encouraged me to do so many yrs ago...would have to find the file on that - but doesn't seem like I learned anything useful. He did tell me about some business men who came in there on a venture one time - hey, I wonder if that was the same business guys who flew a plane out of the Amboy area the night of the crime. Just kidding!

Been thinking about the grudge and this is what I came up with.
Duane's brother worked for Boeing and Duane had wanted to be a pilot, but being farsighted that was not going to happen because back then you had to have 20/20 vision without glasses to be a pilot. Then Duane gets screwed and ends up in prison. He was ordered out of his mothers home by the bother in 1957. In 1958 his mother dies and his brother makes sure he receives no inheritance. I was told this by Duane and I have found out the family was in pretty good shape before they died for the times.

Then in 1960 when Duane ends up in Canon - he then goes into a special program. Receives some training there and then goes to another camp in CO. Duane met the woman he stayed with for 8 yrs in Colorado. He told the same story and she told 2 stories about how they met, but usually she had pulled a few too many silvers by the time she called me. This CO camp explaines a lot of things that happened when I lived in Denver and FT Collins with Duane from 1978 to 1980 when he departed almost immediately after the money find was published in the local paper....his abrupt departure to Alabama and leaving a good job was out of character for the man I knew - he was running.

The stories the ex told me about those yrs from 1962 to 1971 were sometimes disgusting to me, but then I have mentioned some of this before. Even then they were in places that evolved around military and coverts. She said they were always on the run and never stayed anyplace very long. She hated that place in AZ and Tx - it was boring she said.

In 1966 I think it was that he took her to CA and he was doing something in the WA and MX area at that time. This was just for a few wks. Then he takes her to AZ and he goes back to CA to settle something about his inheritance - the grudge. Since the family was associated with Shewin Williams and the Uncle was rich due to this association which also involved Boeing contracts and his brother had worked and may still have worked for Boeing at that time.

Some research I did on the estate settlement - gave a date that did not correspond with the date the ex-wife gave me - therefore his reason for going back to CA and then to WA was for something besides "settling his inheritance" as he put it to her. Pehaps it was the seeds of a plan to take his inheritance and to get even. The brother owned a lot of property in WA along with a partner....the Brother disowned Duane from 1958 until 1995 when he was dying in the hospital. For over 37 yrs they had NOT spoke or acknowledge each other.

When I contact his sister to let her know Duane was dying she called the brother and they had a telephone reunion over the phone...it had been 38 yrs since he had spoke to his brother. Think about this and think hard. he had made the confession a couple of days before and then the brother calls him after I have told the sister about the bizarre things Duane was saying.

The sister knew who her brother was and what he was. She begged me not to go public. Not one time did she deny he wasn't Cooper. She had her first heart attack after I first contacted her...and then the next one when I was in CA to talk to the Brother in 2004 while Jim had his Proton Treatment at Loma Linda. This is when I found out the other wife had been introduce to her as JO in 1977 when I sent him to CA to get the ex out of his mind.

She though I was the ex-wife. Duane had introduced the ex to his sister on that trip as Jo (that is me). I kept telling the sister I had never met her and then when she sees me in the hospital room in 2004 - she knew I was NOT the Jo who was introduced to her in 1977.

This is what I would call a grudge if all of his family was well off and had benefited by way of Boeing. What better way to get back at your brother!

Perhaps the grudge was as simple as that.
Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

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Sluggo, Perhaps the most telling evidence of authorship is the following. I bought a used copy of the book on the Internet and it came with Thomas K. Worcester's autograph on the title page. Nothing from Himmelsbach even though he is listed as the senior author.

Robert



Doesn't necessarily mean anything - I have two co-authored books (by Reinhart & Rogoff, signed by Rogoff; and Akerlof & Shiller, signed by Akerlof). Each of them only has one signature simply because only one of each pair of authors was around the day I had them signed. Perhaps the guy who originally had the book was in a similar situation?
Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

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Jo wrote:
Quote

just about everyone has been a suspect at one time or another on the thread...even 377.



Nahhh. Even though I jumped surplus gear exclusively in 1971 and had recently traveled to Seattle by airline, the FBI completely ignored me.

I'll admit I was kinda disappointed. Back then it was very cool in skydiving circles to be considered a Cooper suspect. Many hinted that they were under suspicion, but I think most were BSing. At least Guru really was visited by the FBI. So was Sheridan Peterson. Most in my area thought Bill Dause was the best local suspect, but he didnt look at all like the sketch nor did he fit the height description.

A gear down order makes sense because you can hear and feel a gear extension and/or retraction in a 727 pax cabin, even in the rear. Any "funny business" in gear position would be immediately apparent. Dunno about flap retraction noise if brought up in tiny increments. You can change speed very gradually, but you cannot modulate the speed at which gear extension or retraction takes place on a 727 in normal circumstances (some planes do have emergency hand cranked gear systems for use if the primary system fails).

I'm not saying Cooper had a ATP ticket and a 727 type rating, but he knew something about planes. Most whuffos think anything that moves on a wing is a flap.

I never ran into the word interphone until I started working on surplus military aircraft radio gear in the 60s. The manuals always showed connections for interfacing the audio output with the aircraft INTERPHONE system, which typically included an AN/AIC-10 Interphone Amplifier.

I guess we will never know if Cooper used the word interphone during the hijack. Too bad.

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

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Read what Ckret wrote about 727 flight tests with extended stairs. I had forgotten all about this but Snowmman hadn't.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3234535;search_string=food;guest=75430335#3234535

Come on Quade, let Snowmman back on the forum. Yes, he'll be rude initially, but he might mellow as he ages.

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

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Read what Ckret wrote about 727 flight tests with extended stairs. I had forgotten all about this but Snowmman hadn't.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3234535;search_string=food;guest=75430335#3234535

Come on Quade, let Snowmman back on the forum. Yes, he'll be rude initially, but he might mellow as he ages.

377




:):):):):):):):):)

Something I noticed when I was seeing who was online:ph34r:

snowmman Attempting to view unauthorized page Nov 10, 2010, 6:58 PM

Just sayin...:):)

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Read what Ckret wrote about 727 flight tests with extended stairs. I had forgotten all about this but Snowmman hadn't.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3234535;search_string=food;guest=75430335#3234535

Come on Quade, let Snowmman back on the forum. Yes, he'll be rude initially, but he might mellow as he ages.

377




:):):):):):):):):)

Something I noticed when I was seeing who was online:ph34r:

snowmman Attempting to view unauthorized page Nov 10, 2010, 6:58 PM

Just sayin...:):)



He must really have something to say, but he just won't follow the rules. Perhaps if he sent someone like 377 or yourself what he wanted to post and this person could act as a filter to keep the "stuff" out Quade and other objected to. We do know that 377 has done a little of this and there are others who also would not mind acting as a filter.

He just goes crazy when he is posting - and gets abrasive so he does need a filter. We certainly need his input and I have somethings I need to put infront of him, but not on the forum just PM's. Can he still do PM's or even a private email to certain individuals? He never exposed his real email to us as some of us have done regarding communications out-side of the forum. A few of us knew each other outside of the forum prior to posting here also.
Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

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'By comparison, McCoy was a novice.'


Well, stopping to get something to eat instead of toughing it out with a half-million in cash doesn't make him the Sharpest Tool in the Shed.

FBI sez:
Quote

'Incriminating evidence mounted against McCoy. In trying to trace the steps the hijacker took after parachuting into the rural area surrounding Provo, a lead was developed. When shown McCoy's photograph an employee at a roadside hamburger stand said she had sold him a milkshake at about 11:30 on the night of the crime. In addition, a teenager stated that a man fitting McCoy's description paid him five dollars for a ride from the stand to a nearby town...'



Not a smart move. He should have shouldered that heavy bag with the half-mil, stayed out of sight, and hiked home on his own.

Quote

'Do you have FRESH strawberries for your milkshakes...' B|



rather than cherry pick as you always do, finish
the story.


I really don't understand what you mean about 'finish the story'. Everyone knows the ending.

The FBI found the money at his house and sent him away for 40 years. He broke out later and was killed. End of story.


well the FBI gives a slightly different scenario
with a different sequence of events than you
give. For one, McCoy was id'd before the
ground search even began so any stupidity
(hobbling back with a severely sprained ankle)
had nothing to do with his capture - he was already
caught due to his big mouth with a friend who just
happened to be a Highway Patrolman. Moreover,
McCoy made it back with his injury in time to
participate in his regular Ntl Guard assignment.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/richard-floyd-mccoy

The point of my comparison was by way of a
method for modeling. McCoy was a known quanity.
Cooper is an unknown. Comparing their actions
and methods during the hijack may yield some
useful data. It has nothing to do with "superiority"
vs. "stupidity" which seems to be your primary
concern, for some reason.

We know McCoy survived and lived. Maybe Cooper
vanished precisely because he was dumber than
McCoy who you say was stupid. That is an
interesting juxtapostion, but perhaps not where
you wished to take this?

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Read what Ckret wrote about 727 flight tests with extended stairs. I had forgotten all about this but Snowmman hadn't.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3234535;search_string=food;guest=75430335#3234535

Come on Quade, let Snowmman back on the forum. Yes, he'll be rude initially, but he might mellow as he ages.

377




:):):):):):):):):)

Something I noticed when I was seeing who was online:ph34r:

snowmman Attempting to view unauthorized page Nov 10, 2010, 6:58 PM

Just sayin...:):)



He must really have something to say, but he just won't follow the rules. Perhaps if he sent someone like 377 or yourself what he wanted to post and this person could act as a filter to keep the "stuff" out Quade and other objected to. We do know that 377 has done a little of this and there are others who also would not mind acting as a filter.

He just goes crazy when he is posting - and gets abrasive so he does need a filter. We certainly need his input and I have somethings I need to put infront of him, but not on the forum just PM's. Can he still do PM's or even a private email to certain individuals? He never exposed his real email to us as some of us have done regarding communications out-side of the forum. A few of us knew each other outside of the forum prior to posting here also.



Oh yes... he can PM.. he sent me one right after I posted the screenshot and bolded text.... I don't think he "got it"

I doubt if Quade will let him back... its simple.. when you piss on a moderator.. they ban you... its happened to a few people. I watched his posts when he got banned... uh.. he got off easy.. since most people who have called the mods names or tell them to fuck off... get banned from the site for life.

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It's a shame Snow's real life personality is unknown to most of you. You would expect an oppositional very difficult person but that's not what you'd see. He is a seriously brilliant guy (publications and patents) who has excelled in his highly technical specialty, amiable, funny, extraordinarily generous with his time and his stuff, loves dogs, family man etc etc. I sound like his publicist but it's all true. I know that few will believe me. I feel like Jo arguing that Duane was DBC.

I'd be willing to filter his posts but I doubt he'd go for it. I really like Snowmman. If I became his censor it would wear on the friendship.

Back to Cooper. Hey, what the hell has the Science Team been doing? Salmon swim up the Columbia but twenties don't. This total radio silence troubles me. Maybe we are not tuned in. What's the frequency Kenneth? Sluggo? Georger?

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

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Be sure to run your malware cleaner after
visiting Blevins' urls listed above.

Both urls stick tracking cookies on your computer.

Just a fact.

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Be sure to run your malware cleaner after
visiting Blevins' urls listed above.

Both urls stick tracking cookies on your computer.

Just a fact.



Tracking cookies are enabled depending on your security settings in your browser.

The first link is to a page at the History Channel website, which I think has been determined as 'Safe' by Norton and every other similar program on the planet.

The other goes to my column at MSNBC/Newsvine, where I have been a member in good standing for several years. Newsvine is the citizen-journalism discussion site for MSNBC. My column is visited thousands of times a month and is linked out to scores of other websites with over 450 illustrated articles available on all manner of subjects. There is no malware involved, I assure you.

Is you don't like cookies, reset your options in Control Panel. (Windows)



I said TRACKING COOKIES as opposed to ordinary cookies. There is a difference. One video link at
the Hist url instals even more TRACKING COOKIES
(a ton of em) and attempts to instal a pseudo
video proggy which is recognised malware.

Just a fact.

No problem at Newsvine/MSNBC where I guess you
run some stuff.

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Interphone - I am too young to comment on 1971 but I came across interphone recently and thought of this thread.

I believe it was on a transatlantic flight and the Cabin Crew used the term (I forget the exact circumstances - as I was probably being hit on by a male cabin crew member as usual - why never the women??)
Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

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From Sluggo Monster’s website,

Crew Communications Notes Received 6/20/2008, pdf file pages 1 – 3.

The following was written on 25 Nov 1971, the day after the hijacking. Although this may be little more than the stem cells for all the lore and myth, it may also be the most accurate or least inaccurate telling of several technical items. For those with a pre-plotted curve, feel free to embellish and cherry pick as is the norm in any case.

Page 2- “(All information between cockpit and HJ being relayed by “captive” stewardess Mucklow by cabin/cockpit interphone.)"

“-Fueling to start as soon as engines shutdown.”

This would have been a good time for a former ‘covert ops’ man to demand a hot refueling since the passengers were deplaning from the front of the aircraft.

Page 3- “HJ specified that he wanted to go to Mexico City non-stop, that the aircraft configuration must be gear DOWN, flaps at 15°, that the aft door must be open at all times, and that the aft stairs must be fully extended after take-off.”

Mexico City non stop, flaps at 15°, gear down and stairs open. Seems like some self cancelling requests but Cooper must have been (insert whatever fits your curve).

From Seattle to Mexico City is 2,000 miles. The speed limit for 15° of flaps is 205 knots (see attach). 2,000/205 is 9.8 hours. What is the 727’s endurance?

Northwest responds, “…take-off with air-stairs full down impossible due to inability to rotate airplane. HJ advised of this he asked that air-stairs be partially extended prior to take-off. MSPFO advised this also impossible since stairs could not be held in any intermediate position.”

Looks like Northwest and Boeing were aware that the stairs could be opened in flight, just not on the ground. Cooper was not so plugged into this bit of minutia. The stairs by necessity must drop and then move freely in the open position for numerous reasons. Yawwwnnn.

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Interphone - I am too young to comment on 1971 but I came across interphone recently and thought of this thread.

I believe it was on a transatlantic flight and the Cabin Crew used the term (I forget the exact circumstances - as I was probably being hit on by a male cabin crew member as usual - why never the women??)



What airline? What was the nationality of the cabin crew? Just curious. I'd never heard the term until I started reading about military aircraft internal comm systems.

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

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Page 3 Crew comm notes- “HJ specified that he wanted to go to Mexico City non-stop, that the aircraft configuration must be gear DOWN, flaps at 15°, that the aft door must be open at all times, and that the aft stairs must be fully extended after take-off.”



Most aviation whuffos dont know that flap positions are specified in degrees. A demand for 15 degrees could have just been a lucky guess or evidence some knowledge of 727 flight characteristics. He didn't just say "flaps down" or "full flaps", he specified a precise setting that was appropriate for TO and slow flight. The 727's speed limit with 15 degrees of flaps is 205 knots which is a good upper limit if you were going to jump, but wanted to exceed chase helicopter speeds. It's also slow enough to make it difficult for fast delta winged supersonic interceptors like F 106s to stay with you in bad weather. F 106s can fly at 200 knots, but it isnt optimal for a chase from behind situation. I am not saying Cooper was thinking about eluding chase aircraft, but he did pick a good speed to do that and it apparently worked.

My position that Interphone was a term used exclusively in the military appears incorrect. It is interesting though that passenger airliner cabin crews may use it. Since we can't be certain that Cooper used the term it's all just speculative.

Jo has written that someone connected with Duane was a Boeing rep to the Army. I think Boeing Vertol made helicopters for the Army. As far as I know the US Army never sought, bought or used 727s.
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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From Sluggo Monster’s website,

Crew Communications Notes Received 6/20/2008, pdf file pages 1 – 3.

The following was written on 25 Nov 1971, the day after the hijacking. Although this may be little more than the stem cells for all the lore and myth, it may also be the most accurate or least inaccurate telling of several technical items. For those with a pre-plotted curve, feel free to embellish and cherry pick as is the norm in any case.

Page 2- “(All information between cockpit and HJ being relayed by “captive” stewardess Mucklow by cabin/cockpit interphone.)"

“-Fueling to start as soon as engines shutdown.”

This would have been a good time for a former ‘covert ops’ man to demand a hot refueling since the passengers were deplaning from the front of the aircraft.

Page 3- “HJ specified that he wanted to go to Mexico City non-stop, that the aircraft configuration must be gear DOWN, flaps at 15°, that the aft door must be open at all times, and that the aft stairs must be fully extended after take-off.”

Mexico City non stop, flaps at 15°, gear down and stairs open. Seems like some self cancelling requests but Cooper must have been (insert whatever fits your curve).

From Seattle to Mexico City is 2,000 miles. The speed limit for 15° of flaps is 205 knots (see attach). 2,000/205 is 9.8 hours. What is the 727’s endurance?

Northwest responds, “…take-off with air-stairs full down impossible due to inability to rotate airplane. HJ advised of this he asked that air-stairs be partially extended prior to take-off. MSPFO advised this also impossible since stairs could not be held in any intermediate position.”

Looks like Northwest and Boeing were aware that the stairs could be opened in flight, just not on the ground. Cooper was not so plugged into this bit of minutia. The stairs by necessity must drop and then move freely in the open position for numerous reasons. Yawwwnnn.



Somewhere within the last few days, someone posted a link to one of Snowmann's post in which he quoted Ckret as, in turn, quoting the Boeing pilot who flew the stair door down test as saying something like "the aircraft cannot take off with the stairs down AND LOCKED (emphasis mine)".

That is probably what the Boeing people were passing to the NWA 305 crew. And it would indeed be impossible to rotate the aircraft with a tail skid like that.

So the whole point appears to be a mis-communication between Cooper and Rataczak. Rataczak had been told that the aircraft could not take off with the stairs down and Cooper obviously meant that he wanted the stairs unlocked and only slightly down for the take off. And the aircraft probably could take off with the stairs unlocked and only slightly down.

Or to put it another way, this is a non-issue. Just a confused couple of fellows thinking they were talking about the same thing when they weren't.

Robert

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Page 3 Crew comm notes- “HJ specified that he wanted to go to Mexico City non-stop, that the aircraft configuration must be gear DOWN, flaps at 15°, that the aft door must be open at all times, and that the aft stairs must be fully extended after take-off.”



Most aviation whuffos dont know that flap positions are specified in degrees. A demand for 15 degrees could have just been a lucky guess or evidence some knowledge of 727 flight characteristics. He didn't just say "flaps down" or "full flaps", he specified a precise setting that was appropriate for TO and slow flight. The 727's speed limit with 15 degrees of flaps is 205 knots which is a good upper limit if you were going to jump, but wanted to exceed chase helicopter speeds. It's also slow enough to make it difficult for fast delta winged supersonic interceptors like F 106s to stay with you in bad weather. F 106s can fly at 200 knots, but it isnt optimal for a chase from behind situation. I am not saying Cooper was thinking about eluding chase aircraft, but he did pick a good speed to do that and it apparently worked.

My position that Interphone was a term used exclusively in the military appears incorrect. It is interesting though that passenger airliner cabin crews may use it. Since we can't be certain that Cooper used the term it's all just speculative.

Jo has written that someone connected with Duane was a Boeing rep to the Army. I think Boeing Vertol made helicopters for the Army. As far as I know the US Army never sought, bought or used 727s.



"Admiral Nimitz said, 'When I answer the interphone from the cabin I normally say "bridge". (History of
Naval Warfare)

"Exec Producer Bernard Maris said, 'Mon père a des interphones installés dans notre immeuble de bureaux dans Toulose en 1901.Les militaires français utilisaient des interphones dans les fossés dans la Première Guerre Mondiale.'

*Frank J SPRAGUE inventeur et père de la interphone électrique c. ... et invente le premier interphone électrique installé sur un bateau. ... Fin 1887, début 1888, Sprague utilisa son invention pour mettre au point le ...

*Invention of the Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876..

*WESTERN ELECTRIC GRAYBAR INTER-PHONE INTERCOM SYSTEM
This is an early apartment building inter-phone intercom adapted from the Sprague system in
Toulose. Patent pending Jan. 22, 1918 - 1921.

*Wright Brothers first flight — December 17, 1903

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Jo has written that someone connected with Duane was a Boeing rep to the Army. I think Boeing Vertol made helicopters for the Army. As far as I know the US Army never sought, bought or used 727s.



Of course one also needs to look at things in context. A lot of people worked for Boeing. Not necessarily very unusual that someone had met an employee, particularly around the WA area...

Quote

when World War II started, the government suddenly desired tens of thousands of planes a year, and Boeing was positioned to provide them. Working under fixed-fee contracts, Boeing churned out airplanes and became by far the largest employer in Seattle.
With the Boeing 707-120, Seattle became Boeing's company town; in 1947 Boeing employed about one out of every five of King County's manufacturing workers, in 1957 about every other one.




On a related subject, you want a grudge? And the timing fits:
Quote

However, the announced layoffs are far from the deepest cuts in Boeing's history. From 1967 to 1971, the company cut 95,180 people of whom 63,674 lived in the Seattle area.



More specifically ref timing (this extract refers to numbers in Seattle specifically):
Quote


Due to changing external demand and the cancellation of the SST program, "the Boeing workforce was cut from 80,400 to 37,200 between early 1970 and October 1971".



That last date is very interesting timing in light of the hijacking don't you think...?
Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

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Robert99,

I may be wrong, but I don’t believe there is a down and ‘locked’ position for the aft stairs. The stairs when opened drop at some speed regulated by the struts. Then the stairs simply touch/rest on the surface.

If the plane was being loaded with cargo or fuel the AC could squat and damage the stairs and outer skin.

Perhaps someone could actually supply a source of the aft stairs manual or system description and put a bullet in the brains of this ‘Information Zombie’ once and for all.

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I remember back when……

Interphones were made of…… wood.

Yep, this beauty was probably put into production right after the first plane was designed that could carry two or more people.

Pilot: We’re approaching the target, prepare for bomb drop.

Bombardier: WHAAaaaattt??

Pilot: Get ready to drop bomb.

Bombardier: I’m not ready to eat flan!

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