peckerhead

I think I have been fuddy for some time now, I should be completely duddy in about 3 more years. .

And here is a picture of a bomb!

The only Freak Brothers version I have ever heard was from the Freak Brothers convention video. I still have the VHC tape somewhere. I remember I took it out to the DZ just a few years ago and all the young jumpers thought it was boring. I remember someone saying it was just a bunch of old geezers belly flying with bad music from the seventies. I must be old cuz I still think it is one of the best skydiving videos ever made.

Rare Earth, It was originally called Hey, Big Brother. It's on You Tube

Yep

Um lets see..... because I can't see through clouds?

You know I made at least 100 jumps at Kapowsin and I don't think I ever saw Mt Ranier on a skydive. And I jumped there in the summer But I have seen it from Oregon many times, oh and Richland too.

Pretty much any DZ in Washington, in fact you can see it from Oregon. Skydive Toledo is the closest and they have the best view of Mt. St. Helens.

How do you get away with only paying fifty? PS California sucks

You have to understand that since 1971 skydivers/military/smokejumpers/demos, etc. have been dropping trash all over the area that Cooper supposedly jumped from on a daily/ weekly/ monthly/ yearly basis. Since Cooper jumped it would be safe to say that at least a million jumps have been made in the vicinity and guess what? Sometimes we lose shit and don't retrieve it. I don't think whuffos have a clue how many times humans jump, someone is in freefall making a jump right now as you read this. Someone, somewhere is under canopy and decending. It is a big planet. Good lord! Someone dug up a parachute in WA, stop the presses! It must be DB Cooper! It is fools gold for whuffos.

Exactly!

I asked this question in the previous locked thread but I don't think it was ever answered with any clarity. What happened to the BOMB? All the focus seems to be on the money and the parachutes and the missing person but nobody has ever said much about the missing briefcase and what happened to that. What was in it? Where did it go? Was it really a bomb? He showed it to the flight crew so it must have physically existed even if it was not capable of doing any damage at all. Or maybe it was. Most people seem to think it was a fake and he was bluffing but nobody called his bluff. Obviously they met his demands because they thought he could really do some damage and kill people. What if there were actual explosives and it was real? Actual explosives have a source and should traceable even in 1971. The threat was taken seriously so who knows, maybe he would have blown up the plane if cornered. Go out in a blaze of glory. He must have known he might be taken down and killed by law enforcement. Was it left on the plane or did he chuck it out the door? If it was left on the plane then you guys have it and you know if it was really a bomb and not just a bunch of road flares attached to an alarm clock. I always had this mental picture of a guy jumping in a business suit holding a briefcase by the handle with a fake bomb inside. Doesn't make sense. Maybe he threw the bomb out the door and stuffed as much money in the briefcase as possible and tried to hold on during freefall, so now you have a briefcase in one hand and a ripcord in the other... Hold on tight dude! If you don't have the bomb then it must have been tossed out the door. You would think pieces of it would have been found. Something, ANYTHING! Where is the friggin Bomb? More later,

I have been watching tandems land since the no drogue days and honestly I did not think that was all that bad. I have seen similar landings year after year and in most cases both people got up and walked away. Shit happens and no tandem instructor is a perfect cyborg passenger landing machine. (Also known as protein delivery specialist) Some of you may have never straped a couple hundred pounds of meat to your self and tried to land it safely....time after time. I certainly would not want to strap myself to some whuffo who may not want to cooperate, I prefer to be on the other side of the lens. Don't be so quick to judge tandem masters, those guys earn their money and even the best of them chump the landing from time to time. No one is immune from this happening. Just think if we had video on every tandem ever made and I am sure that video would seem quite tame in retrospect. Probably would not even make the top 100. You tube may not be good for the sport if all people search for is the bad stuff and idiots almost always want to post fuck-ups that might give the lawyers ammo. Personally I don't want any of my videos on you-tube, even the great ones from the old days. If Tom Petty wanted to sue me he would have already done it. More later,

Maybe 1946 was the serial number.

Can you post the article? Some of us don't get skydiving mag.

How old is it? What is it? Keep it, it may be worth something someday. No reason to dispose / destroy old gear. You might be surprised.

I have a canopy that is only two years old (main) and already you can't read the serial number on the orange data panel. I guess they had better ink in 1946.

Not to mention the jump was illegal. I believe it is still being investigated by the FAA because the proper waivers were not obtained. I don't think using a criminal act is a very smart way to promote any business.

1946? Wow! And some people won't jump a 20 year old swift. If that is Coopers parachute it was 25 years old when he jumped. It is 62 years old now. Go figure! Edit to do math Too old to be Coopers gear.

I wouldn't get too exited until a match is made. We have been dropping parachutes and parachutists over the NW for many years. Decades before the highjacking in fact.. A serial number would come in handy don't you think? They should have let a rigger handle it first. (maybe they did)

I voted McCain because I thought he was most likely to actually have a ceramic cat. Now if the auction was for a lava lamp I would likely change my vote.

Score: Bin Laden 3000 Bush 4000 Mission accomplished!

You know I really don't consider myself to know all that much about photography or videography. I love to read DSE's posts but I almost never know what he is talking about. The only reason I feel justified in charging for skydiving videos and stills is purely because of the unique angle that I am able to get shots from. Let's face it, most, (if not all) whuffos are in awe that such a thing is even possible. As a former DZO put it " you are just a falling tripod" The fact that you are willing to strap a couple thousand dollars worth of electronics to your head and jump out of a plane is what makes you valuble. It is only a product worth buying because I can exit and fall within a close distance of someone making a tandem jump and point my cameras in that direction. Add some music, a few transitions and sub titles and they get a fantastic soveneir well worth the money. That said I don't think my years of skydiving video experience would ever qualify me to do a wedding or similar type function. I would be more than happy to set up a tripod, stick a blank tape in and let it rip. I don't think I could charge for that. If you need assistance I will be over at the punchbowl..... More later,

Far out man!

Who is Dave Todak? Strato, Lighten up Dude!