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I found this information from a patent in 1963. The link is available here: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Here is a short passage from the patent:
In general, any conductive electrolyzable metal can be used for purposes of this invention, such as copper, vanadium, zinc, bismuth, cadmium, titanium, silver, nickel, and the like. Preferably, the metal is dark in color for contrast; however, if readout of the image is to be made by other than optical viewing, such as by electronic readout or the like, even very thin, non-optically contrasting metal films are useful. Preferred metals for the purpose of the invention are cobalt, titanium and vanadium.

I did a cursory review of the patent.  It is quite interesting.

Note that the list of conductive metals is there to protect the patent holders right to exercise numerous options.  However, if you read down to the claims (the important part of the patent), they seem to be most interested in vanadium (4. A copy sheet according to claim 3, wherein the said light-transmissive metal is vanadium).  6. A copy sheet according to cliam 5, wherein the nucleating metal atoms are nickel, and the light-transmissive film is vanadium.

So although titanium could work in this application, it appears that they favored vanadium.

Yes....it is a 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) patent. However, was Cooper a loner? He may have been - Nobody reported him missing (if he perished). What if Cooper worked with these metals in a one-man illegal printing operation such as, counterfeiting  I am not saying Cooper was this man.   However, should he be dismissed because everyone tends to believe Cooper was an engineer at an aircraft plant? 

I searched Google for printing with offset presses and the metals on the tie. I also found this patent from the 30's: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

I come to the conclusion that these metals were not used exclusively in the aircraft industry.

I believe Tom has suggested his metals represent a cocktail. Something one would find together in the same source.  Including the form of bismuth Tom/Alan found.   

Eh, Bill, since you're a newbie I think you should know that Evick's dad has been missing since September 1971, and at that time was on the lam for counterfeiting. In fact, it is believed that he spilled $200,000 worth of bad twenties into the Mississippi River near their home in Minnesota....

..the full story is in an old TV show. Unsolved Mysteries, I believe.

Mel Wilson is a favorite of many of us here, although I don't think he was/is DB Cooper.

Although Mel Wilson was a superb forger in his own right, by accounts on the web - wanted badly by US Treasury and still hasn't been found since he vanished in 1971 ? - his techniques were standard probably par for the day, his skills were in engraving, he used a standard forgers' metal set with standard techniques, he is not known as an innovator but more as an excellent engraver, and he did not do metal processing. Kaye and his team believe the particles they found match what one would find in a processing context vs a machining environment. That would seem to rule out a standard forger's skill set/environment; in fact at the end Mel was working in a minimal environment with no frills and rushed. He bolted abruptly and dumped his last run of bills and plates into a river after somehow sensing authorities were on their way to grab him?

There is no evidence that Mel ever did any 'processing' of rare metals.

Mel was not a trained engineer.

       

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Eh, Bill, since you're a newbie I think you should know that Evick's dad has been missing since September 1971, and at that time was on the lam for counterfeiting. In fact, it is believed that he spilled $200,000 worth of bad twenties into the Mississippi River near their home in Minnesota....

..the full story is in an old TV show. Unsolved Mysteries, I believe.

Mel Wilson is a favorite of many of us here, although I don't think he was/is DB Cooper.

Bruce,

Thank you for the heads up.

Vicki, I've been to your Disqus page, and have a better understanding of your situation.  I'm sure the circumstances leave you with many unanswered questions, and it is difficult when there is no closure.  My condolences to you and your family.

Here are a few videos that I have on my Youtube page. In fact, Shutter has a topic on this forum dedicated to Mel Wilson.

Quote

So to recap...Cooper would have needed to learn about the stairs either from Boeing, their marketing firm or the DoD--or a friend who did. 

Interesting that Cooper left behind the tie while take everything else. He could easily have chunked it or put in his briefcase.  Perhaps it was an intentional act to send a message that he was leaving the working world behind.

 

Very possible, it probably would have been in the way if left on. he could of forgot about it while putting the chute on, figuring out the bag etc.

getting back on the pilot thingy. are we claiming he was a 727 pilot? he would have to ask, or research the 727 to find the "majic' configuration if he wasn't a pilot of a 727? small craft, or helicopter pilots can't help him? he would still have to gain the information by other means.

How many pilots flew 727's in 1971, not many. then you branch out to mechanics, stews, pursers, co-pilots, flight engineers, controllers, dozens of departments he could of gained information. then he must obtain information with parachutes. schools don't teach you how to jump out of commercial aircraft, the Government, military can teach you to an extent (static jumps) the whole idea came from him. I doubt anyone told him.

criminals always believe they have the edge, or can get away with there crime or they wouldn't do it. most think they have all the angles covered, and most end up getting caught because of stupidity, or a fatal mistake. we have a huge problem here, nobody is certain Cooper made it, or believe he made it. I still can't say for certain one way, or the other...

This is why I stated years ago 'we dont know much about the 1000+ people the FBI (and others) looked into - we don;t know much about the net the FBI and others cast trying to bring in Cooper. Some say it was wide, some say it was non-existent. Blevins claimed NWO didn't look at its employees at all; that turned out to be false as per the NWO Historian. We dont know about any searches the FBI/FAA did. Im betting licensed pilots were looked at and in the Eugene area we know they were looked at. Are we back to the assertion 'pilots were not looked at' and that is why a pilot escaped? Then we are back to 'pursers' were not looked at and every other occupational category?

To recap here is what Bruce says:

Here is what I know he knew:

1. He knew the 727 could be flown successfully with the aft stairs deployed.
2. He knew the 727 could take-off with the aft stairs deployed.
2. He knew the 727 had a wing flap setting of 15 degrees.
3. He knew the metrics for a safe jump: gear down and locked, speed at 200 mph or so, not higher than 10K, cabin unpressurized, flaps at 15.

This information, except for the flap setting of 15, surpassed what the pilots knew or anyone at Northwest Orient flight ops. No? Anyone really dispute this?
 

Could anyone have known these things or surmised these things without being a pilot?

When I was a child I used to build paper and balsa wood model airplanes that flew. But I was not a pilot. After learning about airfoils and such from a book at my public library I went on to design my own aircraft, and they flew but I still was not a pilot. In the Flight of the Phoenix a German model aircraft designer built a real sized aircraft that got survivors out of the Sarah Desert back to civilisation - and he was not a pilot.

In other words, can one 'know a thing or two' because one has 'seen a thing or two' or 'done a thing or two' ... or talked to people about 'a thing or two' and learned a little from that, and still isn't a pilot ?

I dont mind people having opinions, but proof is still required. And if somebody is going to throw a tantrum over it and another person starts talking about people's 'fangs', then I want double-proof. A Cooper-twenty from some old pilots or parachutists' billfold would be nice!   
 
 

we all want to find out what really happened, anyway you look at this. I still believe the information, at least most of it could be obtained without ever sitting foot in a cockpit. could I be wrong, sure, but I can also look at the facts, and we don't have a lot of them.

Someone determined to be successful will do his homework. it's also possible he thought he did enough to make this all work, and it might of paid off, but we are not certain since it's unsolved.

this might not be the same, but it has a point. the last hurricane (Matthew) approached Florida. people were calling me day and nite wanting there shutters put up. I noticed a few stuck around asking questions, and watching me, and guess what, they never called back to have them taken down. they got the information needed to get them down by watching how they went up. Cooper could of done a similar thing.

I've had zero training in weather, never taken any classes, but I will bet I know more about hurricanes, and what they can do than people who are not around them. anyone can plant a seed and grow something, but that doesn't make them farmers.

did Cooper do this? I haven't a clue, but things like this have to be addressed prior to claiming all the things Cooper was, or is...

In fairness, Sailshaw posted this at DZ back in 2011, after interviewing several 727 pilots:

sailshaw

Dec 16, 2011, 5:37 PM
Post #30140 of 58140 (52664 views)
Shortcut
   
     Re: [BruceSmith] Boeing clams up on Dewey [In reply to]    
 
Bruce:

Your statement "That's what Rataczak told me. Perhaps I should ask for confirmation from Everett Johnson, the 727 pilot with World Airways that Sailshaw and I had lunch with about three months ago.

Also, I believe that Bill told me that there was a pre-setting for 15 degrees. I'll check my notes at some point to confirm."

Bruce, I checked with Everett and he remembers 727 settings of 15 deg, 25 deg, 30 deg and full flap at 40 deg. To check this out with another 727 Captain Reid Imus, I got similar but different answers of: 2 deg normal and max airspeed of 240 Knots, 5 deg and max airspeed of 160 Knots, 15 deg and max airspeed of 160 Knots 25/30 with max airspeed of 140 Knots and full flap of 40 deg.

So, I conclude that asking for 15 deg by DB Cooper was to insure a controllable airspeed max of 160 Knots and a knowledge of the 727 flying characteristics. This would have given better fuel economy than 25/30 deg which would have produced the slowest airspeed max of 140 Knots but burn more fuel. What DB requested was the correct thing and that is why the pilot was impressed with DB's knowledge.

Each setting is a detent so that the same setting is known and what the max limitations are on airspeed.
Bob
Sailshaw        You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

This does not negate the fact Snow claimed the last setting before Cooper jumped was 30-d, not 15-d. It had been 15-d but (Rataczak) changed it back to 30-d; according to Snow's reading of the Transcripts.

2° - 230 kts.
5° - 215 kts.
15° - 205 kts.
25° - 185 kts.
30° - 180 kts.
40° - 170 kts.

Technically, many flap configurations would work for his purpose, or even his demands...

The note given to Flo was on plain white paper (no lines). how many other notes were Cooper's. the stews wrote things down and went forward. Cooper had a bomb in a briefcase, while McCoy had an unloaded pistol, and a dud grenade. McCoy was above 10,000 feet, and constantly requested updates on location, weather, and altitude.

like the medallion myth, it appears the writing on a flight plan with Cooper is also a myth. who started this, the guys with the book?

What Im about to say has been fully researched, in spite of 377 and Bruce's pretension that  Cooper was a pilot based on the 3 criteria they cited which includes that 'Cooper asked for 15 degree flaps'. This was discussed at length at Dropzone between 2008-2012 roughly. Bruce and 377 published their contention very early so this is a longstanding stance with them which has not diminished over time.

There is only one source (apparently) for Cooper asking for 15-d flaps. That source is Bill Rataczak on all occasions including at 6:21 in the PI Transcripts where Bill tells ATC they have received NEW INSTRUCTIONS from the Hijacker which includes '15 degree flaps after we leave to slow the plane down'. Rataczak is also the source for 15 degree flaps in interviews, including an interview with Smith (2010?), tv productions, etc up to the present.

Ckret specifically disagreed and said there was "no record" of the hijacker ever asking for 15 degree flaps.

Another FBI agent speculates that Rataczak was confused and Cooper was being redundant and asking for the stairs down and down 15 degrees, not the flaps? 

Snowmman, Sluggo, Farflung and other pilots familiar with the 727 questioned Bruces'/Rataczak's claim. Pilots in particular stated that such a request was highly "redundant" for any pilot (or anyone else professionally familiar with the 727) to make. Farflung said, "It's not something any pilot would ever say. It's like asking for the bay doors down after you have already asked for the wheels down!". Farflung's reading of Cooper's avionic requests was that there was a high degree of redundancy throughout his requests concerning the plane; not something any pilot or person familiar with the plane on a professional level would ever do, or say. Farflung couldn't understand why Rataczak would think Cooper was some kind of expert, unless Rataczak was under stress and not thinking straight.

Farflung and Snowmman and several others even go further at DZ and note that hijackers that followed Cooper displayed the same kind of redundancies in their commands concerning their aircraft, including McCoy. These hijackers were caught and are known, and very clearly none of them was an experienced commercial pilot or technically familiar with the 727 (either) in spite of the fact McCoy was a trained-seasoned helicopter pilot in the military.

Lastly, there is nothing in the pilot notes that plainly says Cooper asked for 15 degrees, but 15 degree flaps are mentioned several times over the course of the flight ...  see below.

I will be happy to provide all of the (numerous) urls and quotes for everything above, to Shutter or whoever.

The bulk of the posts at Dropzone do not think that even if Cooper asked for 15 degree flaps that guarantees he was a pilot or even professionally familiar with the 727 he had hijacked. Rataczak, 377, and Bruce Smith obviously think otherwise.