The flight crew vacated the aircraft in Reno at 11:22 PM.  Presumably, the flight recorder would have been turned off at that point.  So with a four hour recording capacity, the entire flight from Seattle should be available on the recorder since the takeoff time in Seattle was approximately 7:35 PM.

The airliner was flown back to Seattle the next day (Thanksgiving Day).  Under the existing circumstances (non-revenue flight, law enforcement implications, etc.), the flight recorder could probably be powered off by a circuit breaker for that flight.  The aircraft itself underwent minor repairs to the aft stairs in Seattle and then returned to service on either the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Questions that linger......If they had the flight recorder, and was able to get the data off of it. why is FBI agents telling of a different path, and stating they didn't know where he jumped? nothing is making any sense.

If I'm correct the plane shut down some time after 11:21 pm. it's possible some of the data was over ran giving the reason for the late start with the FBI map? they asked for ground power at 11:21 so they could shut down. it doesn't specify when the power was hooked up. they show the path all the way down, except for the first 18 minutes, or so?

R99, I'm really having trouble at the 8:15 to 8:17 plots. I can't fly the plane the way they have it on the map. this is some heavy rolls, and the space isn't there to do in? you have to roll hard right to try and make the 8:16 plot, then another roll left to try and cross the Columbia. I'm guessing the plane is rolling left from 8:16 on past the Columbia. can you spot anything on the map that can verify my problem, or something I'm doing wrong?

There is no solution to your problem.  It is not you, it is simply that the flight path won't work.

It's similar to the S turn at Toledo/Maylay. that one can be done. I'm really having trouble getting it done in the 8:15-8:17 marks. this is a problem I didn't see coming.

Don't forget that there exists a copy of a teletype message sent through the ARINC teletype network which has a time hack of 8:22 PM PST to the effect that the airliner was 23 DME miles south of the Portland (now Battleground) VORTAC.  And when the DME read 23 miles it meant that the airliner was somewhere between 23.00 and 23.99 miles south of that VORTAC.  So there is a possible 1.00 nautical mile difference in the location.  But since the airliner had a ground speed of 3 nautical miles per minute (and assuming it was flying directly away from the VORTAC), the DME would only show 23.XX for not more than 20 seconds.

And don't forget that the Seattle NWA's office records, now at the WSHM, show that at least one person claims the airliner was at the above point at 8:18 PM PST.  This would be the time that the radio call to the ARINC ground station was made and that voice call could be received at Seattle and Minneapolis through the phone patch provided by ARINC.  ARINC personnel have informed WSHM personnel and myself that there is a finite time between any voice radio call from the airliner and the time it takes to "format" that voice message and then to type it into their teletype system.  So the 8:18 PM PST time for the voice radio call over the ARINC patch is believable.  This refers to the way things operated in 1971.

There is no way that the airliner could have been at that DME point at 8:18 PM if it overflew the Portland VORTAC.

Canby is 27 miles DME, so I'm looking for a time frame of about 5 minutes past the 8:17 plot, or crossing the Columbia to reach the 23 miles DME. I should have a little over 8 minutes of flight.

Correct?

I flew from Battleground to the Canby intersection. I flew the path the best I could through the problem area. I hit 23 miles DME in a time of 7 minutes, and 15 seconds. I reached the Canby intersection in 8 minutes, and 32 seconds.

Plane configuration is as follows

Flaps.....15 degree's
Gear......Down
Speed....171 KIAS
Groundspeed...196 (average)
Temp.....42 degree's
TAT.......-8 Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit)
Fuel Flow....4600

I have done the calculations on a flight computer using the following assumptions:

KIAS - 170 Knots
KTAS - 194 Knots
Wind (10,000 feet) - Southwest (225 degrees true) at 25 Knots.

This gives a Ground Speed of 172 Knots on the V-23 segment southbound from the Portland (Battleground) VORTAC.

With that Ground Speed the airliner should have flown the 23 DME nautical mile distance in 8.0 minutes and the 27 DME nautical mile distance to Canby Intersection in 9.4 minutes.

Given the unknown actual wind conditions as well as the actual KIAS cruise speed, we are in close agreement.

Do you have your Ground Speed set in MPH or Knots?

I didn't have the winds that high. I'm running it again.....225 30mph....

Here are the actual numbers that I see while flying....