377

Very interesting Sluggo, and clever as all hell, but there is no indication that Cooper actually did this. You likely would have made a better Cooper than Cooper himself. If Cooper had your brains, he definitely survived, invested in Microsoft, and is retired comfortably. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Repost from locked Cooper forum: "CB walkie talkies were widely available in 1971 and had RF power ranges of 0.1 to 5 watts in the 27 MHz band. Range HUGELY depended on terrain between the two units. In 1963 when I was a kid I had a Lafayette 0.1 watt single channel CB walkie talkie. It wasn't the toy type, it had 10 transistors and a good double conversion superhet receiver. My friend had one too. We could get about half a mile in thick forest, but between high hilltops, we once got 9.3 miles and the reception was quite clear. The 5 watt units would have better range. If Cooper had an accomplice positioned on a mountaintop, and Cooper had a line of sight to that peak, it is VERY likely that they could talk to each other for 10 miles or more with cheap (30-80 dollars) CB walkie talkies of that era. That still leaves a serious problem arranging a rendezvous since Cooper could probably not tell exactly where he was. Being able to communicate is not the same as being able to locate." Proves nothing but Duane's use of CB radio is interesting. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I don't see how it would be possible to lower fees by much without running even deeper into the red. I'd bet that Don Kirlin loses money on every paid admission even at $69 a person. Most of us have no idea how much it costs to put on an event like this with site fees, paid staff, tent rentals, band fees, outhouse rentals, lodging for staff, car rentals, site cleanup, etc etc. I don't know if the beer is supplied free to WFFC, but I'd bet nearly every jumper has quaffed more beer than his admission fee would pay for in even the cheapest bar. If we can't have WFFC 2008 lets try to build broad support for 2009 and make it the biggest and best one ever, surpassing even the glory days of Quincy. I miss this event and the whole WFFC family so bad it hurts. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

" He was bantering this same way with someone on the CB - regarding this handle." Just how involved in CB radio was Duane? What kind of gear did he have? How long had he been involved with CB radio? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I agree, s c a r e y, but is it pretty much the same as what kite surfers do except this guy does it over land? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Thanks for the tip Councilman. Bought the eBay vacuum food saver and it is a REALLY good start. Big interior, would even take a full sized acft alt. laid on its side (still visible) or several skydiving alts laid flat. Right out of the box it goes to 6.5K before the limit switch shuts off the pump. The closing latch serves as a decent adjustable bleed valve if you open it slowly, pretty easy to simulate freefall rate of descent. Next I will bypass the limit switch and see if I can take this to 12 or 14K of vacuum without imploding it or stalling the pump motor. You couldn't possibly build this for $20 (see his other listings, I paid $20 plus shipping) so the value is truly amazing. Takes D cells (not incl) or AC adapter (incl). Made in China but not a junky item, at least from the outside. I expect a cheap DC brush motor and a flimsy diaphragm pump inside, but hey, for $20 are you expecting a brushless motor and a gear or vane pump? You will never find a cheaper brand new self powered vacuum chamber suitable for altimeter testing. Durability? Time will tell. This is going to seriously damage the market for high priced vacuum chambers that are used in applications where specs and approvals aren't crucial and which don't need super low vacuums. I think this may have other uses like getting bubbles out of adhesives, dessication etc. Any other ideas? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

377 The term 'Iron Mike' for an AP must be exclusive to the heavy aircraft industry. Most of my aviation experience is in aircraft

Norjak is going for $124 on one site. Yikes! That is insane. Bet it doesn't sell. I have seen a few DB Cooper T shirts at DZs, but that is the only thing related to Cooper that I have ever seen in commerce. Cooper is a folk hero for sure, although I don't really see that he deserves the "hero" part. If he survived, too bad he didn't donate a chunk to charity. That would have made him more like an American Robin Hood rather than a plain old selfish robber. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

"Legal Information and Notices Posted Thu Jul 21 2005 By sangiro Copyright All content on this site, including text, graphics, logos, icons, images, designs, audio clips, and software, is the property of Dropzone.com. or its content suppliers and is protected by international copyright laws. The compilation (meaning the collection, arrangement, and assembly) of all content on this site is the exclusive property of Dropzone.com and is protected by international copyright laws." ****************** Despite what the above notice says you could excerpt a few posts, better yet just paraphrase them a bit and have no real world legal worries. You certainly couldn't legally republish the entire website content or large portions verbatim, but uses of tiny bits may be covered under the "FAIR USE" exception/defense to copyright infingement. Paraphrasing, giving the same message with different words, is another way around the copyright infringment issues. Parody has also been used as a defense. If they are quoting posts on this forum to make fun of us (an easy task given our excesses), its probably OK. People get their lines all spun up about copyrights, but in the end, unless you get nailed by the RIAA for pirate music downloads, you are very unlikely to be a defendant in a federal court suit for copyright infringment. As for the criminal side, only Ckret could tell us with any authority. The feds have shut down pirate DVD and CD factories and arrested their operators, but as long as people are robbing banks, selling pirated software and forging social security checks, I don't think the FBI is going to be pursuing people for excessive quote lifting from dropzone.com. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Today I had Dr.s appts. and rightt now I have to go leave - think I am going to the ER. Jo, I think I speak for most of the posters and lurkers on this forum in wishing you better health. We certainly have our disagreements about Duane and Cooper but it's all in good spirit. Sounds like you may have some serious health issues and perhaps that is compelling your quest to get answers sooner rather than later. In any event, hope you feel better and come back here soon. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

It's a public forum on the internet. I'm not aware of any copyright notices here. I'm sure if there were tey would be used to stop journalists using stuff from the incidents forum. Jo, Orange is right, it's 100% legal unless someone is republishing big blocks of content verbatim from this website. What do you mean "using for their own benefit?" We are all doing that. Is he writing a book or article? If he is mining this forum for material I don't think it will make the best seller list. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

When 377 suggested I do an AFF, I thought he was referencing a "tandem jump". I never dreamed that you could do a solo free-fall on your first jump! Cheers, Sluggo_Monster A.K.A. Sluggo and Wonder Warthog Sluggo, If you are gonna be a serious Cooper sleuth you should make an AFF jump. Really. It will change your life and you will have a hell of a good time doing it. Any time something seems daunting you can think back and say: "if I jumped out of a plane and landed on my own I CAN do this." I wonder if Cooper had similar thoughts post caper? 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Who would have been flying the plane? 377, for one of the smartest guys here that was the dumbest thing anyone could say...how many did you have to drink tonight? I am Jo, The autopilot would be flying, sometimes he goes by the name of IRON MIKE. I have spent a lot of cockpit jumpseat hours in 747s, DC 10s and L 1011s when I worked for an avionics company. I'd say 98% of the time the plane was on autopilot. Once, in an L 1011, the crew demoed a hands off landing at Heathrow, flown right to runway contact by the autopilot. It was pretty amazing. 377 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Yeah, the guys up front didnt seem to know how to use their GPS to get good spots. I once landed sooo far from the DZ that the ride I hitched back seemed to drive for ten minutes before we got to the airport. It got so bad that Dean, the air boss, came aboard on the next load and rode up front as a third pilot to show the guys how to do it. That spot was PERFECT. Still amazed at how fast a DC 3 full of jumpers could get to 15K. Most DC3s climb really slowly once they get into double digit altitudes. Must have been those uprated engines, the kind of Wright 1820s that are used in the Grumman Albatross. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Loved this plane when it was at WFFC 2005. Fastest climbing DC3 I have ever been in. Where is it now? Is it active? I have heard it has a long history in skydiving. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Its pretty hard to second guess the crew. They landed unharmed so they didnt do so badly if you judge by the result. I am not sure what I would have done differently if I were in the left seat. Your job isnt to apprehend criminals, it is to keep your pax and crew safe. Almost all "bombs" shown to bank tellers, pilots etc are fake. I wonder if the pilots assumed that and just let Cooper do his thing unimpeded knowing that if they did, it was less likely that he would harm them. I think the NWA crew did a decent job under the circumstances. Cooper was a criminal, but he didnt injure anyone. A real rat would have killed the crew so they could not have identified him. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

How would Cooper know where he was after landing at night and in the rain? How could he find his way to the cabin or car without being seen by searchers or suspicious residents? The circumstances of his exit make it very unlikely that he could have made a planned landing within a day's walk from a planted car or previously identified cabin. A wet canopy would not offer any significant insulation in my opinion. Duane might have been Cooper, but as of yet I have not seen proof. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Lets say for argument's sake that Duane was involved in the caper. What evidence makes him the jumper rather than a ground based accomplice? I am keeping an open mind, but also healthy skepticism. Don't take it as a personal attack Jo, it isn't. I want to know the truth as much as you do. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I had Raven IIs (218 sq ft?) reserves in my two rigs. I rented a rig with a Raven II as a main to see how one handled so I would know what to expect if I had a reserve ride. The Raven II flew OK, but the flare was really weak, mushy...like an old worn out porous canopy. This rental canopy, however, was NOT worn out at all by its looks and line condition. I had it loaded at about 1.1 to 1. I subsequently read a lot about bad landings under old style Raven reserves in SKYDIVING. I decided to sell my Raven IIs to a rigger and buy PD 193Rs. I had a cutaway and had to use my PD 193R. It flew very similar to my Triathlon 190, no problems at all, soft standup landing and very easy to handle flare characteristics. Maybe it is pilot technique, not any Raven canopy deficiency, but I feel better having the PDs as reserves than I did with the Raven IIs. I don't want a reserve that takes a lot of skill to land successfully. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I too lost mine in a cutaway. I got an Eclipse freebag at Skydive Monterey Bay CA about a year ago. They had a limited amount of new Stunts Eclipse parts. Is it just me or is your Eclipse the most comfortable fitting rig you've ever jumped? Comfort is why I hang on to mine even though it has become sort of an orphan as far as mfr support goes. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Alti 2 mechanical altimeters are very fine units. You won't regret buying one. Parts and repair are available in the US. Even the old Altimaster 2 and 3 made by SSE (pre Alti-2) are good altimeters. Neptune (digital) has had some issues. Whatever you do dont buy a used SSE Altimaster V (five). They are poorly designed DOGS, can malfunction in a scary manner (free floating dial needle) and should be scrapped in my opinion. If you can afford it the L&B Altitrack ($299 new, about $250 used) is an awesome piece of gear combining an altimeter and a digital flight recorder into one compact unit. Look at the GEAR section on this website. Many different altimeters are reviewed. If you plan to do any high altitude jumps the old SSE Altimaster 2 goes higher than the version that Alti-2 made later. The advantage in Alti-2s changes/updates to the inner workings give you less range (18K (Alti-2) instead of at least 24K (SSE) possibly higher), but a stronger needle shaft which decreases the chances of having it break away from the dial pointer if you drop it on a hard surface. I'd recommend always jumping with one dirt simple mechanical altimeter and perhaps adding an electronic one as your second unit. I jump with 2 altimeters, one wrist (for me) and one chest mount on a pillow so others nearby can see it in an RW formation. A very simple basic function test if you are looking at a used altimeter is to put it in a zip lock bag, inflate the bag a bit, seal it, then squeeze on the bag to pressurize it. As you pressurize, the needle should go down in altitude. If you can put two in the bag you can compare readings. You do not want to buy a used altimeter with a sticky needle. Make sure it goes around smoothly, not in jerky movements. I'd DEFINITELY hold off on buying major gear (container, canopies etc) until you've made at least 25 solo jumps, and even then get some help from experienced jumpers and a rigger. Unfortunately there are people out there looking for newbies to overpay for their old junk. eBay has quite a bit of this outdated and sometimes dangerous old gear. Jumpsuit? Wear old coveralls for the next 20 jumps until you really know what you want in a jumpsuit. Buying gear too early is a mistake many new jumpers make. Welcome to skydiving! 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Somewhere there are tables published on survival time before hypothermia disables you. If Cooper was wet (very likely) then heat transfer out of his body would go faster. I don't know of any experienced skydivers who would make Cooper's jump in the clothes we think Cooper wore. The apparent lack of planning (garb and shoes) is hard to reconcile with any assumptions about Cooper being an expereinced jumper, military or civilian. Either that or he planned to exit right after takeoff, be picked up in minutes and then clothes wouldn't matter so much. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

That erratic path is odd. I am not a licensed pilot but when I worked for an avionics company I actually got a fair amount of cockpit jump seat time in large jet airliners (L1011s, 747s and DC 10s). It seemed to me that they were on autopilot almost all the time other than takeoff and landing. Turns were cranked into a heading selector. The erratic flight path just seems odd. Any pilots care to comment? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

I have heard stories about ruptured Scuba tanks going through several walls, but I never gave much thought to the dangers of vacuums in containers that can't withstand the pressure differential. Hmmmm. Wouldn't that be a bitch to survive decades of jumping and be killed by a home made altimeter chamber??? 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

Hey Sluggo. Shoes are really important. Just ask my girlfriend, Imelda Marcos or OJ Simpson. At least we know Cooper and the Juice didn't shop at the same shoe store. 2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.