You can be doing 300 knots and be 23 miles DME from anywhere. it's two different things. it's not measured by speed, only distance.

From a VOR...

I’m not understanding this point. Are you saying the 165 knots was not the speed the plane was traveling at 8:22?

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You can be doing 300 knots and be 23 miles DME from anywhere. it's two different things. it's not measured by speed, only distance.

From a VOR...

I’m not understanding this point. Are you saying the 165 knots was not the speed the plane was traveling at 8:22?

Chaucer, again, if the 165 knots was reported in the same message as the fuel flow and other items Shutter mentioned then it was the Indicated Airspeed.  This is what the pilots saw on their instrument panel.  Their True Airspeed and Ground Speed would be different.

While Ground Speed can be determined from the DME under certain conditions, the DME only indicates the slant distance between the aircraft antenna and a VORTAC station as Shutter has stated.

Still again.  Go to the FAA web page and download their publication on aircraft navigation.  And then read it.  It will save you a lot of confusion on the subject of navigation.

This might be a dumb question, but off the top of my head...

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INDICATED AIRSPEED - This is what the airspeed indicator shows (this assumes no mechanical errors in the instrument and no errors in the pitot and static pressure measurements).

TRUE AIRSPEED - This is the Indicated Airspeed corrected for non-standard pressure and temperatures.  For instance, both the pressure and temperature normally decrease as altitude increases.  There are mechanical type "slide rules" and electronic hand calculators for determining the True Airspeed.  At sea level with standard pressure and temperature, the True Airspeed and Indicated Airspeed are the same.

Would barometric pressure changes/differences (weather, as opposed to altitude) measurably affect that?

Yes.  Note that in the Seattle ATC Center's radio transcripts the pilots are constantly being updated on the altimeter settings in the area they are passing through.  Unfortunately, the airliner's times at various locations has been redacted in those transcripts.

Altimeters measure pressure and have a scale on the instrument that shows the pressure being measured as an altitude.  In aviation, altimeters are capable of being set to a sea level pressure.  What is given as altimeter settings is the pressure at a given location reduced to sea level by a standard formula even if that location is thousands of feet above sea level.  So if an aircraft is parked on the ramp at a given airport at 4000 feet above sea level and asks for the local altimeter setting, the setting he is given should indicate something within a few feet of 4000 feet on his altimeter.

You cannot determine "tape line" altitude from an altimeter although there is, or used to be, a calculation called "true altitude".  But the altimeter is probably the most accurate pressure measuring instrument on an aircraft.

To calculate the True Airspeed from the Indicated Airspeed, you must know the sea level pressure for your location and the temperature outside the aircraft.  The outside temperature can be measured by thermometers onboard the aircraft and adjustments must be made for heating in high speed aircraft.

Here is a personal experience of mine that happened about 50 years ago near Colorado Springs, Colorado.  I was flying a sailplane (glider) from a gliderport there that specialized in high altitude wave flights.  In preparation for that, I had gone through high altitude pressure chamber training at Andrews AFB near Washington, DC.

My goal was to reach 40,000 feet above sea level, but I never made it.  I did find the mountain wave, got into it, and climbed steadily at just a few hundred feet per minute.  I was carrying onboard two sealed barographs that were temperature compensated.  I dressed for the flight as much as possible, but my hands and feet turned out to be the problem areas.  I had ever ventilator in the sailplane wide open just as I would have had at sea level on a 120 degree day.

Two of those ventilators were putting air directly on me and one of them had a standard aircraft thermometer with a scale from -60 to +140 degrees F in it.  That gage went off the scale in the negative direct and appeared to hit a peg at what would be about -70 degrees F.  I continued to climb after the temp gage pegged out, but the rate of climb slowed to about 200 feet per minute and I was freezing my rear end off.  I decided to stop at 35,500 feet in the climb and when I reached that point I was going to head back down.  I simply could not handle another 20+ minutes in that temperature.

Upon reaching 35,500 feet, the canopy from my shoulders back was iced over and ice was on my chest just below the oxygen mask exhale valve. I tried to retrim the sailplane but the trim tab would not budge and the dive brakes would not deploy.  My only choice was to put the nose down and speed up which is what I did.  I was finally able to deploy the dive brakes at about 25,000 feet and got back on the ground as fast as possible.

Upon landing, I turned the barographs over to the individual who would reduce them and certify the flight.  I headed back to my motel and took a hot shower to warm up, then I went back to the gliderport and the maximum altitude was certified as 36,500 feet, which was probably the average of the two instruments.  So at the highest point as I was trying to head back down, my airspeed was probably at least 1.75 times the indicated airspeed. That was also the coldest temperature I have ever been in.

So does anyone have a good reason for Cooper taking the brief case with the "bomb" whether real or fake? Doesn't the fact that he jumped with hit pretty much prove it was fake? 

So does anyone have a good reason for Cooper taking the brief case with the "bomb" whether real or fake? Doesn't the fact that he jumped with hit pretty much prove it was fake?

Cooper probably dumped the briefcase, its contents, and everything else he no longer needed prior to jumping.

So does anyone have a good reason for Cooper taking the brief case with the "bomb" whether real or fake? Doesn't the fact that he jumped with hit pretty much prove it was fake?

I'm curious how much of the money it would hold if he dumped the 'bomb' contents. I have to give some credence to Eric's idea the Cooper would not want the briefcase to be found, as it might give the FBI an idea of who he was. (It was described as fairly new, so they might be able to trace purchases of it's type.)

SHUTTER...thoughts about this pic? Is this a partial picture of the placard?

That look similar to what I posted several times. I thought you seen that? it looks like a placard the same size. the lettering is red like the others seen in the stairs and not the off red or maroon color placard we have.

FROM The Cooper Vortex THREAD:

"So has Tina Mucklow been shown pics and heard Sheridan's voice?  That could be telling.  I just wonder if you all realize how big of a piece to the puzzle Tina is?  It sure does not seem that way with what i read here.  She was the star witness in this case!! She spent five damn hours with him!!!!!  Get a sound bite of his voice on tape and try and get her to listen to it.  If he was Cooper, it should ring a bell.
So what did they cover with Mucklow in the 2016 interview?  I have never heard it?  Was she asked about the main suspects?  Sheridan?"

I think it's important to remember that it has been 50 years. Additionally, that Cooper was on the scene only about 8 hours. And that Cooper covered his appearance to the degree that he wore sunglasses.

My point is that I do not believe there is any value in Tina or any other witness attempting to identify Cooper based upon an old image or modern day voice recording. It has simply been too long. People have lives, indeed very full lives, that they have lived over the last 50 years. 50 years is a long time. 50 years is too long a time to remember with any measurable degree of certainty whether some guy was Cooper based upon a photo or voice recording.

The case has to be approached differently.

I totally get what you are saying here. It has been ages.  I was a freshman in high school and it was 3 lives ago in my case.  But since they totally screwed up by losing the cigarette butts, the good DNA is gone. Of course back the they could not have known what they had but as big as this was, you would think someone would have kept them as a souvenir at worst?  But they are gone. So my suggestion for her to just listen to lets say Sheridan say some words strung together using recording techniques, could ring a bell because she has not been flooded as far as I know with the evidence?  She seems to be unwilling to really participate?  Entered a convent, perhaps to hide from it all?  But I guess she did agree to talk in 2016?  I have heard none of it.  Voice recognition is not a totally fruitless endeavor.  And though a longshot, isn't this entire thing a long shot right now?  If somehow she would agree to listen to a few of them, I believe hearing his voice is stronger than seeing pictures as, like you say he went out of his way to hide his looks.  Shafner was the only one to see him briefly and thus the Bing Crosby sketch.  She does not seem to be as sharp as Tina.  Just from what I have heard?  And she is even more relentless in her efforts to avoid this case.  So Tina Mucklow would certainly be a welcome guest to your 50 year anniversary meeting,  I would try and try and try to get her involved.  Borrow, steal, kill as they say!  Just kidding. But maybe bribe?  I wonder if she has made any money on this?  Over the years I know many have invested much to try and ID Cooper.  I commend all of you.  And Gray for that flight to Belgium.  I wish you luck.  Just trying to help come up with some idea that might help. 
PS, a couple of podcasts I have heard mention he had an "accent"?  Not sure if it was a clearly identifiable one?  If he did speak French as his other language some could pick that out you would think and perhaps there is a chance of him being Canadian?