BigSky

Jo, have you tried looking at Goggle Earth satellite images. I was just playing around on there following some of you directions and you can see quite a bit. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

I think I have said this before but if anyone wants me to go over and try to pinpoint some of these locations I will be more than happy to do so. I live in Portland so this is a short drive. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Let's just say that a parachute dedicated to emergency use (a pilot rig) might be considered more reliable than a sport main. The emergency rig has to be packed by a licensed FAA rigger, while a sport main may be packed by the person making the jump. If Cooper had experience walking around the back of a plane dropping objects, he would have been wearing a pilot emergency rig, not a sport rig. The sport rig would have modifications unfamiliar to a load master. It makes sense to stick with something familiar. Sounds like you have background in this, thanks for jumping in. Can anyone confirm that load masters wear PER's when working. Of coures you have go back to the 50's, what did they wear in the 50's? Snowmman? the search king, can you get this. This goes to the theory then that Cooper chose the best chute base on Cooper's experience, but not the best gear available. This then proves, or adds another piece to the puzzle, that Cooper was not an experienced skydiver. Not necessarily, and this was my point when I brought this up the first time. There are just too many variables to rule him in or out as a skydiver based on the rig he took. What if he was an active skydiver in his past but had taken a break? what if he just wanted a round because he thought he might land in a tree. I know many older jumpers who don’t jump with an AAD. Most of us younger jumpers are not comfortable with this. Maybe all he was comfortable with was a round because that’s all he ever jumped so he picked the rig he was most comfortable with. Sorry for the very late replies but I take a few days off and come back to page after page of reading to do. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

I used to think Cooper was an experienced skydiver (sport jumper) but Ckret has convinced me otherwise. The sport rig would have been my choice for several reasons: 1. steerable canopy, a very big deal if you are jumping into unknown ground hazards. A sport rig canopy sleeve means less opening shock too, which is something to think about if you have to pull at a speed above terminal velocity. 2. you could hook a reserve canopy/container to it, a second chance if the main failed and (importantly), a way down from a tree. I'd much rather have a steerable sleeved main and a reserve than a military pilot main rig, even if the military rig was more reliable. 377 Although I don’t totally disagree with you, a steerable canopy is not necessarily a better choice for landing in the woods. There is a reason smoke jumpers still use rounds today. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

"Can someone make a logical argument that because Cooper made no specific demands for equipment and he chose the poorer performing chute, that this actually makes him experienced and knowledgeable? From the totality of whats been posted, no. There is no evidence to support this. So the answer then is that Cooepr was not an experienced jumper. " Well there is the argument that has been made by several old school jumpers here that he took the bail out rig because it is reliable. That is what that type of rig is for. He didn’t need performance he needed it to work and get him down alive. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

I agree with you and I agree with Sluggo, given the parameter's Cooper set in place, V 23 was the most obvious. In fact they would have had to work to make the other V's fit. Now we have to determine why Cooper would have not declared a flight path. What would he gain by assuming, given the parameters he gave, they would take V 23. It may seem like a well beaten horse but it is important because it clears the way in making a strong statement about who Cooper might have been as a person. I am sure all will be revealed soon. I don’t think we will ever know what he intended by his request. I’m mean sure we can find out that by his request V23 was the only possible flight path but we still don’t know if he planed it or if it was dumb luck. For the record I tend to think he planed it This is the same with the selection of the chute. There are arguments for and against taking either rig. We will never know for sure if he took one or the other because he knew or thought he knew what he was doing. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

WTF is going on around here??? Have we caught this guy yet..........what will our collective share of the ransom be once we do “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

That sucks!! If gas keeps going up we might be in the same boat. Tell Mikey I say hi. We should hook up out here on the west coast some time. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Well if I'm reading Slugos map right the new jump area is actually north east of Vancouver city center. North of PDX up the 205 corridor. That area today is all mostly houses and fields. I’m sure we could get a picture of it in 71 but id bet back then it is mostly fields. Jo said Duane took her into the woods somewhere and he said "that is where Cooper walked out of the woods" Well if the new jump area is correct then he never walked out of the woods because the area isn’t wooded. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

In the Columbia straight off the bat seems the more likely scenario to me? Wasn’t the money found above a dredge layer? I thought we knew that it did not land there from the plane because of that. Also it seems like people are starting to think he jumped above Vancouver. If he went in around that area why wouldn’t someone have found him? “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Ok so we know he was John Collins. So how can we get a statement from the hotel clerk? “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Jo, have you ever herd the expression "you catch more flies with honey"? Here you have an agent asking you for info and you take the opportunity to bash the FBI. If it were me I would be as nice as I can to these people even if I thought they were a bunch of ass hats. It sure would be nice if you could produce some of your evidence at least for the main points of your story. The trip you took to the NW around the time the money was found. Can you produce some proof to put him in the area at that time? The letter you say you have form Duane to a friend saying he needs to lay low, can you produce that? How about some proof that he used John Collins as an alias and a statement from the hotel clerk that he had a John Collins staying at the hotel the night before the hijack? “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Sorry my post is a little late. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

That's an outstanding job of taking a quote out of context. Someone suggested that Weber might not have wanted to be connected with Cooper. Someone else pointed out that he made a deathbed confession. Where in the hell did ANYONE suggest that what he said was true or false. Way to go, Orange. There's nothing like skewing the hell out of a statement to mock it. Kicked any dogs today? Exactly!! Itdiver said something about Duane maybe wanting his past to be left alone and that is why he kept it so secret. What I was implying was if he wanted it left alone so bad then why de he admit to it on his death bed........and if I have to spell it out further then what I am implying is he did want someone to look into it and that is why he said something on his death bed “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Well he did admit to it on his deathbed. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

"the all-important float theory..???" Ha Ha....I got a kick out of that. I don’t think the float theory matters one bit as he would have thrown the cash in the river just up from where it was found. Even if it sunk like a rock current could have taken it that far. Who knows why he would have buried some of the money but as to the rest of it not being found I doubt he would have buried all of it in one place. Just for the record I am not arguing for it to be Duane. I would like to either rule him in or rule him out as a suspect. I don’t buy the DNA on the tie ruling him out based on the info that was given. I wish we could have some more detail from the FBI on that. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

I don’t usually chime in on discussions like this but for some reason I feel compelled to say something. First off I would never talk too much crap about a DZ who offers free jumps just for the inconvenience of waiting around all day. As a matter of fact if I’m ever on the emerald isle I will be headed directly there. This is not the only DZ you will find a snooty manifest girl at. They are usually overworked, under paid, and tired of taking shit from skydivers all day. All that being said there was probably some attitude on both sides. You were already upset at the manifest girl so when confronted you had some attitude. The DZO was probably a bit upset because you chopped a canopy you could have landed and now someone has to repack it. You jumped.....you lived.....have a nice day

"So we have 2 conflicting theories on Duane, one saying he planted the money there as a decoy" I don’t think anyone is using that as a theory. The way I understand the theory of Duane planting the money is something like this........After he digs up the money he buried he realizes that the money is useless because of its condition and he tosses it in the river. Where Jo says he tossed it in would make it very easy for it to come to rest at Tina’s bar. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

No way Im letting this go to the second page

Jo, you were going to scan and print a letter that Duane wrote to a friend saying something about needing to lay low for a while. What ever happened to that? Not that it proves any thing but since we are at a stall I think it would help your case some if you could get some hard evidence proving at least some of the things you claim. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Thanks Dave! I was way off on some of the lines I was singing in my head. I hope we sing that one agin this year. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

Madjohn, do you have the cock quire songs in digital format that you could email? All year long I have been getting the "Im a skydiver" song stuck in my head, the problem is I can only remember the first verse and it is driving me “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

How about I just send the Beech? Bwahhhhhhhhhh Sounds good.....The Beech, DC3, Otters, Skyvan. I like it! “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

I think you should bring the DC3

Damn it!! I thought we were going to rule out the money getting there by nature once and for all. “Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th