maurico

Yes I always wondered why they kept flying for so long after Cooper jumped. It was a conspiracy! Only joking.....don't quote me.

Are there any circumstances in which you or anybody else would stuff a 28ft canopy into a NB-6 and actually expect to use it? Forgive my ignorance, but why is the pull so hard using this set up?

Wayne, this is good work. Questioning assumed knowledge (ie location of the plane/jump) in this case may help us to solve the Cooper mystery. It certainly is the most interesting post on this forum since the parachute find. Look forward to seeing the 3-D model. Cheers

Yes we need Ckret to breath some life back into this forum otherwise we just go round and round in circles.... Sluggo, any inside info?

Skydivers, Zing (previous thread) says the jump is doable but at the time would anyone other than military jumpers have done a jump like Cooper's (at night, from a jet, with extra gear, over an area that is not a DZ). I presume that even the hard-charging jumpers among you don't do this kind of jump every week-end.... ps I'm starting to think that maybe he didn't pull and landed in the mud as was suggested previously.

Yes I agree. Jo may be articulate but her posting style does her no favours.

Done. Anything else just ask. Regrettably I've never jumped although an old girlfriend of mine did a tandem for charity at Kings Sutton (not sure if DZ has same name) in the UK back in '99. Cheers

Yes there are several open loops in the case that no-one seems able to close without extra evidence. From what I've seen here a lot of work has gone into it but we ain't much closer.... I have: No book to publish No axe to grind No pet theory I'd never heard of Cooper until they found the chute recently (and yes I know its not his)

I'm looking for evidence against the proposition that Cooper was a novice jumper. If care to apply yourself to the task, I'd love to hear it. I don't have a view on what actually happened. That's why I would like to see all the evidence. Cheerio then

Erroll thanks for the reply. My response is that it may not be so easy. 1. Second chute: If a second chute could not be attached to his harness this problem would have confronted both the novice and the experienced jumper. The novice may not have realised that he had no reserve or just thought I can't figure out how to attach it, stuff it I'll just jump with one. Also if you know you can only use 1 chute why would you take another chute at all, why not just leave it behind on the plane? 2. Night jump: still a big ask to exit from a jet at night at low altitude......this jump has a high pucker factor as Zing noted on the previous thread. 3. Gear: An experienced jumper would surely rationalise the gear he had to jump with by wearing suitable clothes to ensure a rapid getaway on landing. 4. Training: if Cooper was not a sport jumper then he had to be military. No link to Cooper turned up there either. ps Big ups to all in SA, I had a great time when I was there way back in '94 Quote

Cooper was a novice jumper: Evidence for: 1. Cooper left behind two working chutes and jumped with one usable and one unusable chute. Doh! 2. He jumped at night (he didn't have to - could have chosen a daytime flight) 3. He jumped with way too much gear (chutes, money bag, briefcase, paper bag) in unsuitable clothing (suit and loafers) 4. No DZ had ever heard of him, before or since Evidence against?

To be fair to Ckret, he can't be expected to investigate based on something someone might have said without something tangible to pin Weber or whoever to the crime. This is a cold case after all and there is no active investigation, just a call for evidence that might solve it. ps I have no view on who Cooper was. My main interest in the case is - did he make it? Cheerio then

Hey safe, I think you are confusing me with an earlier poster as I have no view on the money going through the dredge intact. However your posts and those of several others are clearly based on careful investigation of the facts or rational deductions given likely scenarios. What this thread could use is a compilation of all the useful information into an outline of the case so far. Where there are multiple possibilities we could examine a) the evidence for each b) if no evidence is available whether or not conclusive evidence could be obtained. If not, I think we can dismiss this line of enquiry. [Maybe Sluggo is interested in this, or does this already exist on your yahoo discussion group?] I will post later on several scenarios that I think can be ruled out later (still haven't tidied it up yet). Cheerio thenQuote

There are many possible scenarios in the Cooper case. The problem seems to be a lack of evidence for any of them. However, there are basically two realistic possibilities: either he went straight in, or he pulled off a tricky jump and escaped, but probably lost the money. I would agreee with the main posters here that the main focus has to be on: 1. The location of the jump and landing area 2. Working out how the money ended up on the banks of the Columbia in 1980. I will post on some other scenarios but I can't find much evidence either here or on-line to support them. Cheerio then