DB Cooper

[Ckret 0]

Georger,

You have some reading to do, unless I didn't read your post correctly. We have always known Cooper took two chutes with him and there has been much discussion about it.

[skyjack71 0]

Quote

Online Manners - DON'T SHOUT
More internet etiquette tips: Whether you're sending emails, chatting online, or using an instant messenger, using ALLCAPS is referred to as "shouting." While it is permissible to occasionally use ALLCAPS to emphasize a point, people find entire sentences written in capitals hard to read. As a result "shouting" online is considered rude.

Sorry I wasn't shouting I was excited and confused by this piece of information. Still am after sleeping on it.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[ltdiver 3]

Quote

I NEED TO KNOW WHY I HAD TO FIND THIS ON THE INTERNET.

THIS WEB SITE has Duane Weber living in Kent, WA....but it doesn't mean THIS is your late husband's business.

i.e.: There could be more than one person with this name in the state.

Just because something's on the internet doesn't make it proof of anything.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[skyjack71 0]

I spoke with that Mr. Weber yrs ago and knew he was of NO relation. The information I have regarding Lynden WA gives his (wifes name) and his age. It also references other places I knew they lived. Right now it is being verified.

Someone else asked if he spoke French - that is a no - not to my knowledge other than the common expressions we all know. The village has Dutch connections.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[georger 194]

Quote

Georger,

You have some reading to do, unless I didn't read your post correctly. We have always known Cooper took two chutes with him and there has been much discussion about it.

REPLY>: Yes there has been much discussion - I could fill ten pages with that. Here's one excerpt.

"Re Snowman: The main is easily identifiable if so. 22 gores. 26 ft conical. (if indeed it was NB-6). If the reserve was typical, I'd say 24 ft flat circular (snowman) 1. The Master Rigger, Earl Cossey, has stated that he was told by the FBI that only one of the four chutes was missing from the airplane when it landed, and that it was one of the two backpacks that he had personally packed. His theory was that Cooper could not find a way to attatch both the chest chute and the bulky package of money, and so decided to take a chance and jump with only the one chute.
2. The FBI has always maintained that "Cooper" took two chutes - a backpack and one of the chest chutes, and that the chest chute he took was, unfortunately, the Dummy training device.
Either story, however, indicates that Cooper jumped with one good backpack chute which was professionally packed by Master Rigger Cossey.

And from NWA Transcript:

"*“Two little chutes gone, one big chute cut up apparently to tie the money with shroud
lines to HJ. One big chute apparently still on plane."

Do you see the conlfict?


What did they actually find on the plane at Reno?

Did he bail with an NB6 backpack and one dud
front pack, or, with the two small reserve front packs
as the NWA transcript says?

It comes down to what was actually found on the plane.

Thanks,
Georger

[mark 102]

Quote

Did he bail with an NB6 backpack and one dud
front pack, or, with the two small reserve front packs
as the NWA transcript says?

If he wore a parachute, it had to be a back pack.

The chest packs are just that: a canopy, wrapped in an envelope (the chest container), with no harness. I do not recall any suggestion that there were harnesses supplied for the chest packs, i.e. something like "two back packs, two chest packs, and two harnesses for the chest packs."

Only the back-type parachutes would have come with harnesses as a matter of course.

Mark

[snowmman 3]

georger:
ignore anything I may have said about parachutes long ago. That was before I found this site, and the only info I had was from reading the recent news articles in april this year about nb-6.

as people have pointed out here, and actually news articles from '71 confirm, the nb-6 cooper got apparently had a 28 ft canopy (look back in the archives to see all the going back and forth on this)

I was just guessing about reserves. I know nothing about them. I'm not sure if I've ever seen any one here say definitively what their guess on the reserve canopies were...I was making a guess way back when.

Oh ps: I found some '71 articles where they were talking about the search, and they mentioned that the searchers had been told to also be on the lookout for pieces of the pink canopy that was left on board...i.e. implying that the canopy was cut as well as the lines.
That doesn't square with what Ckret has told us though..i.e. only lines cut.

(edit) the other fuzziness that I was trying to understand at the time of the stuff you quoted from me (I think another forum?) was who packed what. As we now seem to agree, Cossey packed them all, right?

[skyjack71 0]

DUANE LIVED IN LYNDEN, WA WITH MARY JANE HE ALSO LIVED IN LIVINGSTON TX,
among a few other places.

Now I know why he talked about Canada. The FBI has to have knowledge of this residency - obviously not.

Waiting for my contact to finish with Lynden - since this came up on a wk-end getting the verifications will be later. I have been doing somethings on my own and the dates had to be between - 1962 and 1971...I am not even going to discount the prison time because there are so many stories involving this.
For Lynden to count as a residence with Mary Jane - they had live there and pay utilities even if it was for a month.

Lynden only has a population at this time of around 10K - no clue as to the Pop in prior yrs. Glendora is not far a way nor is Bellingham. He spoke of Glendora but I had NO idea it was in WA.

If anyone knows someone in that area - let me know and I will contact them. I will send every picture I have of the two individuals who live in that area. Someone has to remember them.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[skyjack71 0]

All of this talk about the chutes and the money is not going to solve this case - and tell us who Dan Cooper was.

The more I learn about Duane Weber the more confusing this gets.

The prints that supposedly substanciate a Master File:
Duane was LEFT handed. These prints on do a forward press with the left hand and full prints with the right hand. It should be the opposite with a left handed person for the prints - doesn't this make any of you take a second look at prints - they don't have good prints of Duane Weber's left hand.

After Duane died and I digested who Dan Cooper was, I contacted the ex-wife of the 60's. She told me over the yrs that she did not know his name was Duane Weber until he was being released from Jefferson, Mo.

From the records I am finding this not to be accurate - perhaps she told to me this because it was embarrassing - in 1969 he uses Duane L. Weber. So from 1962 when she met John Collins - they must have traveled a LOT - also she had to have known he was also Duane Weber during this time. Records from such places as Livingston,TX, Montrose CO, Laurel NE, Lynden WA, and Osmond NE - plainly state Duane L Weber and this ex-wifes name. She told me she had NEVER been in WA, but she had 2 sons who were there at different given times.

Why did she deny that she knew him as Duane L. Weber prior to 1968? These are places that Duane mentioned over the yrs and some that she recounted in her telling of their life together. She never mentioned NE. or WA. - so it makes me wonder WHY?

Yrs ago I got a letter from a man - stating that he knew that Duane Weber was Cooper. He spoke of an orchestration by the FAA and FBI to force the airlines to implement safety steps and other rulings. He wanted me to step away from my digging into Duane's past - as the instigators were only following orders of others higher up. He refers to others who are still alive (at that time) - the brains behind the operation, a supervisor, and several "legmen" who continue the "cover-up".

He claimed to have been involved in some of Duane's training and because Duane screwed-up by commiting another crime (having to go to prison) ... the project was delay. He also indicated that my continued investigation could cause the incarceration of others involved and that was a long list. He asked me to leave it be - like poison ivy.

Now with my discovery of Duane's history in WA and NV as Duane L. Weber (with this ex-wife) during a time he was supposedly living as John Collins in other places gives me cause to revisit this.

A LOT of individuals have gone to great lenghts to keep me from learning about his past...but the era of the WEB caught up with them...information out there no one ever dreamed would be as simply as click, click and print.

Makes me paranoid - such as who is Georger, who is Snowmman, who is Sluggo, who is Orange - I have tried and tried to keep the "covert" thing out of this, but put yourself in my shoe right this minute...who do you trust and what do you do with the information you have. Yrs ago I asked that if this was true - to sit down with me with the proof, but NO one offered to do that maybe because it is all fantasy by the man who told me these things.

Yet, the facts as I uncover them seem to support what this man had told me. Well, the can of worms is open now. What will we do with them - go fishing? OR do I ignore this and go forward like I have been doing --- will I ever know the truth or will there just be more twisting and turning of the facts and the myths?

I could give up, but it is too late to give up - I gave 13 yrs of my life to this cause. I have become an old woman researching this and would like to know the truth - I think I deserve to know the truth - if there is one.

Only because of the technology has Cooper's identiy been threatened - maybe these leg men dropped their balls...if there is such a thing as "leg men".

I pushed this man's testimony away a long time ago and it comes back to haunt me a couple of times a yr when I make new discoveries that support what he told me. Lynden Wa and Laurel NE definitely do that...and working the 2 identities all over the country.

Georger - you are right Duane wasn't smart enough to plan this but he had the guts to do it. Another way to look at it - he was a coward - he figured he might die in the jump and not spend yrs struggling on a kidney machine. You are the one who likes to explore what makes a person tick so try that one. I am probably more right than I am wrong.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[Orange1 0]

Quote

All of this talk about the chutes and the money is not going to solve this case - and tell us who Dan Cooper was.

The more I learn about Duane Weber the more confusing this gets.

OK, so you want us to ignore the actual evidence and things we KNOW are associated with Cooper and rather waste time on someone that most people have dismissed as a suspect? How logical is that??

It certainly does seem that Duane had a lot to hide in his criminal past, and I can understand you wanting to know more about it. However, there is still NOTHING that links him to Cooper...nothing AT ALL.

Quote

Makes me paranoid - such as who is Georger, who is Snowmman, who is Sluggo, who is Orange - I have tried and tried to keep the "covert" thing out of this, but put yourself in my shoe right this minute...who do you trust and what do you do with the information you have.

Well Jo, I am finding it very hard not to actually swear at you here. I don't know who the others are, but if you bothered to look at my profile you would see that I registered on this site long, long before you arrived. Oh, and here's a simple suggestion: if you are going to get paranoid about the "information" you give out, then perhaps a public forum on the internet is not the place to do it.

btw, did it occur to you that maybe the ex-wife lied to you because she was jus trying to get you off her back? Your assertion that people are going to great lengths to cover up his past also rings hollow in the face of certain other things we have seen here - for example when you kept on harping about the FBI covering up stuff about the commutation, and then it turns out that... well, there wasn't anything to cover up. Maybe the internet will help YOU realise that things you have considered part of some conspiracy or plan or whatever... simply aren't.

Then, Jo, this just makes me sad:

Quote

I could give up, but it is too late to give up - I gave 13 yrs of my life to this cause.

Sometimes you need to cut your losses... maybe you should spend the rest of your life peacefully enjoying it rather than trying to prove something that can't be done.

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[georger 194]

Quote

georger:
ignore anything I may have said about parachutes long ago. That was before I found this site, and the only info I had was from reading the recent news articles in april this year about nb-6.

as people have pointed out here, and actually news articles from '71 confirm, the nb-6 cooper got apparently had a 28 ft canopy (look back in the archives to see all the going back and forth on this)

I was just guessing about reserves. I know nothing about them. I'm not sure if I've ever seen any one here say definitively what their guess on the reserve canopies were...I was making a guess way back when.

Oh ps: I found some '71 articles where they were talking about the search, and they mentioned that the searchers had been told to also be on the lookout for pieces of the pink canopy that was left on board...i.e. implying that the canopy was cut as well as the lines.
That doesn't square with what Ckret has told us though..i.e. only lines cut.

(edit) the other fuzziness that I was trying to understand at the time of the stuff you quoted from me (I think another forum?) was who packed what. As we now seem to agree, Cossey packed them all, right?

REPLY: Agree, Cossey packed them all. I have been proceding on Ckret's NB6 (w 28ft canopy) +
the dud front pack, then was reading the NWA transcript over and ... woh, what's this? Took two
"small packs"? How? Guess its a mistake in the
NWA transcript.

I asked a long time ago if the dud front pack was
the one found on the plane (with cut lines) or if
he took it along. Cossey said the dud was marked with an X. Never got an answer so have that in my unresolved list.

I wouldnt worry much about cut canpoy along with
cut lines unless he used some piece of the canopy for something? But how would we know.

Thanks - have a good Holiday.
George

[georger 194]

Quote

DUANE LIVED IN LYNDEN, WA WITH MARY JANE HE ALSO LIVED IN LIVINGSTON TX,
among a few other places.

Now I know why he talked about Canada. The FBI has to have knowledge of this residency - obviously not.

Waiting for my contact to finish with Lynden - since this came up on a wk-end getting the verifications will be later. I have been doing somethings on my own and the dates had to be between - 1962 and 1971...I am not even going to discount the prison time because there are so many stories involving this.
For Lynden to count as a residence with Mary Jane - they had live there and pay utilities even if it was for a month.

Lynden only has a population at this time of around 10K - no clue as to the Pop in prior yrs. Glendora is not far a way nor is Bellingham. He spoke of Glendora but I had NO idea it was in WA.

If anyone knows someone in that area - let me know and I will contact them. I will send every picture I have of the two individuals who live in that area. Someone has to remember them.

Jo, would you know the dates he lived in Washington?

Thanks, have a nice Holiday -
George

[Ckret 0]

He took apart the working reserve and left it on the plane. The Chute was not damaged, he cut two lines from it. He jumped with the nb6 and left the pioneer (the main) on the plane. Missing from the plane was a "dummy" reserve that was used for training students. The "dummy" reserve was mistakenly given to Cooper. Of the four chutes given to Cooper, he took two and left two.

[skyjack71 0]

I stated as a senariao:

"Makes me paranoid - such as who is Georger, who is Snowmman, who is Sluggo, who is Orange - I have tried and tried to keep the "covert" thing out of this, but put yourself in my shoe right this minute...who do you trust and what do you do with the information."

Orange your reply was:

"Well Jo, I am finding it very hard not to actually swear at you here. I don't know who the others are, but if you bothered to look at my profile you would see that I registered on this site long, long before you arrived. "

My explanation

Orange,

I do not believe anyone else took my tongue in cheek express personally the way you did. I simply used the names I mentioned because they have been the most interactive with me as of recent. There was NO intention of accusing them of anything.
-------------------------------------

Also Orange you stated:

"Oh, and here's a simple suggestion: if you are going to get paranoid about the "information" you give out, then perhaps a public forum on the internet is not the place to do it. "

My reply to that is:

You are the one who seems to get out of sorts at almost anything I say. I am simply trying to get a point across...that it is uncomfortable finding information that put Duane in WA during the associated yrs I have been referring to for several yrs and the lack of communication with the FBI regarding what they knew about Duane.

Would you not be uncomfortable if a work associated confessed to a violent crime. The FBI tells you that there is no way as he was never in the area and his prints and DNA do not correspond with crime scene.

Then you happen chance at a much later date find verifiable information that puts him where the FBI has said he was not and with a spouse. The spouse claimed that the culprit nor herself had ever been in that area.

Would not that scenario make you uncomfortable? What better way to protect yourself than to publically announce your find. If it proves to be incorrect - the worst that can happen is you are made fool out of.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[skyjack71 0]

Orange stated:

Quote

it occur to you that maybe the ex-wife lied to you because she was jus trying to get you off her back?

My Reply:
She was the one calling me in at 2am and 3 am in the mornings. She had a limited income and I would turn around and call her back out of courtesy. My usual contact with her was at a more appropriate time.

As for the Commutation why harp at me about that - the forum told me about Commutations. I was not smart enought to question it.
-------------------------------------

Quote

Then, Jo, this just makes me sad:

Quote

I could give up, but it is too late to give up - I gave 13 yrs of my life to this cause.

My Reply:
Would it not have been more considerate to quote the entire statement........

What I stated in its entirety:

I could give up, but it is too late to give up - I gave 13 yrs of my life to this cause. I have become an old woman researching this and would like to know the truth - I think I deserve to know the truth - if there is one.

That is NOT sad. That is me pushing for answers before it is too late...because once I am gone - there is no one left to fight this battle. WHY, because NO one REALLY cares, but me WHO COOPER REALLY WAS. Others just want to know HOW he did it and HOW he got away.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[Orange1 0]

Quote

WHY, because NO one REALLY cares, but me WHO COOPER REALLY WAS. Others just want to know HOW he did it and HOW he got away.

I think a number of people care about who Cooper was - and we will be interested to know IF he got away. Not least of all, agent Larry Carr at the FBI is clearly very interested in finding out who Cooper was. You, on the other hand, don't really care about who Cooper was unless you can prove he was Duane, as you have ably demonstrated by immediately dismissing any other suspect as soon as their names get mentioned. If you think are going to find answers by selectively filterinb out information, well great. Whatever, Jo, I wish you the best of luck in your quest. I will remind you, though, that this is a thread about DB COOPER - NOT about Duane Weber.

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[NickDG 23]

>>I will remind you, though, that this is a thread about DB COOPER - NOT about Duane Weber.
And I'll remind you that Jo herself started this thread specifically to discuss Duane Weber being DB Cooper. The fact a moderator locked the original one and started this one to calm everybody down means nothing. This is still Jo's thread . . .

NickD

[Orange1 0]

Quote

>>I will remind you, though, that this is a thread about DB COOPER - NOT about Duane Weber.
And I'll remind you that Jo herself started this thread specifically to discuss Duane Weber being DB Cooper. The fact a moderator locked the original one and started this one to calm everybody down means nothing. This is still Jo's thread . . .

NickD

well.. yes and no. Quade having stated the below when locking another thread pretty much makes this a (or rather, the) DB Cooper thread:

Quote

Please keep all discussion of DB Cooper to that thread.

ALL other threads even mentioning DB Cooper will be locked and or deleted.

And Jo started the other thread to put Duane in a parachute... which still hasn't been done. She claimed she had done everything else for the FBI. (The FBI appears to disagree.)

Nick, I would probably never argue with you in any other thread because I think the posts you make are incredible
However, if I am mistaken in my reading of all this, then this thread has gone way off course of what Jo originally said, and I and a number of others (including the testing of the money, etc) have been wasting our time. Jo made it clear from the start she doesn't want to discuss anything else other than putting Duane in a parachute or information about him:

Quote

It has been thirty five yrs since Cooper took his flight out of Portland to Seattle. Departing from Seattle he jumped with a $200 K ransom.

I am the widow of a man who claimed that he was Cooper 11 days before he died in 1995. I have been researching his past for 11 yrs now and I need the help of this forum to uncover his jump history.

So far I have done everything for the FBI except put him in a parachute. The help of those who read this forum will be appreciated.

I don't want to debate theories about how the crime was done and who else may have done it. All I want is to find information about sky jumping and any information I might be able to find about Duane Lorin Weber and any of his AKA's.

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[NickDG 23]

Well, if yes and no, is all I'm going to get, I'll take it.
But I do wish you guys would go just a bit easier on Jo. Yes, I know her posting style is a factor but she's done that from day one and I doubt it's going to change. And it's not like she's trying to be abrasive on purpose like so many others on this site in general.

On the other hand I've gotten a lot of food for thought out of this thread and all kidding aside, I've enjoyed reading it . . .

I think if you were alive and aware when this event occurred it's the aviation mystery of your life. For my grand parents it was Amelia Earhart. For my parents it was my Father wondering what the hell happened to airline stewardesses in mini-skirts . . .

NickD

[skyjack71 0]

For Heaven Sake - Orange you are trying to get this thread LOCKED?

ALL I did was state the last things that have happened.

1.My putting a suspect in Lynden, WA.

2.The boo-boo with the prints -because there is NO comprehensive prints of the left hand included in the FBI master prints. The Suspect was left handed.

He is still a suspect.

I spoke with Mr. Himmelsbach as I did several others today regarding the prints and what I have found. So for the SAKE of the thread I am just going to be very very quiet.

Forgive me for over-stepping any boundary lines - please. So unless I have something useful to contribute I will only loft.

Thought ALL of you might be interested in a photo found in a Magazine. I only reviewed that magazine today - as I had shoved it aside.

A man jumping with a very large container between his legs. the article is about 1967 and Nam.

I believe the magazine was in his possessions because there is a note inside that I contacted the magazine and the name of the man I spoke with.

I will have to say I honestly did not pay any attention to that photo until TODAY. I questioned it at the time and then forgot it.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[snowmman 3]

It could be interesting to have this just be a "Duane Weber: is or not is D.B. Cooper". I'm up for it. Although maybe the title should be changed for new readers?

Jo,
I've searched extensively. Both E. Howard Hunt and MM-T1 ( Gerald Patrick Hemming )have consistently, on the record, not implicated Duane Weber in the Cooper episode. That doesn't rule out Duane's involvement in other "shows", though.

I also believe it's reasonably certain that MM-T1's death on 1/29/08 had nothing to do with the recent reopening of the Cooper investigation.

If there are any doubts about the above two statements, I could research some more, but need more direction.

Other theories?

(edit) I cannot comment on the reports of MM-T1's wearing of U.S. paratrooper wings.

[skyjack71 0]

Quote

Jo,
I've searched extensively. Both E. Howard Hunt and MM-T1 ( Gerald Patrick Hemming )have consistently, on the record, not implicated Duane Weber in the Cooper episode. That doesn't rule out Duane's involvement in other "shows", though.

I also believe it's reasonably certain that MM-T1's death on 1/29/08 had nothing to do with the recent reopening of the Cooper investigation.

Snowmman:
I have NEVER asked you a question like that.
WHAT in the WORLD are you talking about???? I have never asked a question like that and don't have a CLUE what you are talking about.

SomeBODY else must have asked you that question - NOT ME!.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[Sluggo_Monster 0]

Quote

I will have to say I honestly did not pay any attention to that photo until TODAY. I questioned it at the time and then forgot it.

Jo,

As I have said before, I don’t know Sh*t about skydiving, so, I want to hear a lot of comments about this post from the sky apes and bird turds uh… I mean the parachutist and skydivers out there.

This photo (from “Soldier of Fortune”) is of a Navy or Marine diver jumping with a SADM (Special Atomic Demolition Munition). It was (most likely) W-45 weapon in a H-912 transport container. It would weigh around 401 lbs. (181 kg). The weapon weighed 151 lbs. (68 kg.) and the container about 250 lbs. (113 kg.) The container could have weighed a tad less but I doubt it.

Take a look at Short Version which is a 0:28 short clip. The skydivers should look at Long Version which is a 10:15 version that shows how it was rigged.

Watching the whole film made me think, what Cooper did was a piece of cake compared to jumping with a 401 lb Nuc may be the key. Maybe Cooper had a use for the “unusable training pack” after all. It all hinges on what Cooper did after he sent Tina forward.

I really do want to hear from the skydivers about this film. (Not excluding others, I'm just interested in what the skydivers think about jumping with a 401 lb "package"). There's some word-play in there somewhere.

I am uh…. well… AWARE of a similar system used for land drops (as opposed to this water drop). If I were to guess (and of course, I don’t know anything), I would say the land drop version was with “some assembly required” and used more than two demolition personnel.

Sluggo_Monster

Web Page
Blog
NORJAK Forum

[377 20]

Quote

Well, if yes and no, is all I'm going to get, I'll take it.
But I do wish you guys would go just a bit easier on Jo. Yes, I know her posting style is a factor but she's done that from day one and I doubt it's going to change. And it's not like she's trying to be abrasive on purpose like so many others on this site in general.

Quote

And to further shore up the "be nice to Jo" campaign, I not Jo made the initial big deal about the possible heavy implications arising from Duane's sentence commutation. Snow's research has made me realize that the commutation was probably no big deal.

People get too worked up about Jo's over use of capital letters. It may represent shouting, but it isn't really shouting or any kind of real sensory assault. Shouting hurts your eyes, Cap letters don't hurt your eyes. I just ignore it.

Who is MM T1? What have I missed? And now I am seeing E Howard Hunt in posts? Are we going back into JFK MLK conspiracy land?

I went to the Travis AFB airshow last weekend wearing a skydiving T shirt that had no mention of DB Cooper or jet jumps. Two strangers asked me if I thought Cooper survived the jump. It is still a hot topic after all these years.

377

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

[377 20]

Quote

I really do want to hear from the skydivers about this film. (Not excluding others, I'm just interested in what the skydivers think about jumping with a 401 lb "package"). There's some word-play in there somewhere

I have a friend who was a USAF PJ (Pararescue jumper). He jumped with several hundred pound (not 400+ lbs) payloads during training and said it was no big deal. After opening, the payload would be lowered on a lanyard so that it would hit the ground way before the jumper did thus unloading the canopy and allowing a soft landing.

He thought Cooper would have had a hell of a time opening the overstuffed NB6 rig on what was likely his first high speed jet jump. This was especially true if he had anything loose or flapping that might have obstructed access to the ripcord handle.

These PJs are tough. I watched them doing training jumps out of an HC 130 into really rough conditions offshore of Bodega Bay CA back in my commercial fishing days (35 kts NW wind gusting to 45kts, huge seas, 52 degree water and round canopies).

377

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