Nobody wishes that DB Cooper had used a radio more than I do, but there is ZERO evidence that he did. Not one scintilla. Zip. Nada.
Would it have worked to enable a rendezvous with a ground man? It is certainly possible. I've made dozens of radio jumps and have first hand experience regarding coverage area etc.
The MAC SOG jumpers used a small portable radio beacon and and very simple direction finding gear (Japanese transistor radios with internal ferrite bar antennas) to meet up after a night jump into the jungle. It was reported to work quite well.
Using just loop antennas for direction finding has a problem in that you get two bearings 180 degrees apart. But that's usually resolvable using logic and a very rough idea of which direction that station lies from you. More advanced DF sets have sense antenna circuits that give only one bearing and eliminate the 180 degree ambiguity.
If DB Cooper had a 1971 vintage CB walkie talkie and an accomplice was on a high peak, ground to ground comms would have been possible over considerable distance. If Cooper could see the peak he could talk to an accomplice there even if it was 20 miles away. I think the chances of Cooper operating a radio on the way down were low. Its hard enough in good weather and daylight.
Could a radio have been useful in meeting up with an accomplice? Unquestionably yes.
Was one used? Zero evidence that it was.
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.. - - .. , There is no evidence he knew where he was or where he would jump to coordinate with a helper, unless the target was the Portland-Vancouver area. In spite of it looking like he wanted to be ready to jump quick/early, which he did not do and he hadn't even lowered the stairs for (by the way), he waited until the next large landmarks were visible in front of him if you believe Rataczak ("we were in the suburbs of Vancouver when the bump happened"). If he had always planned to jump in that area then 'yes', a radio and a helper might have helped.
One value of a radio that I see is an ability to keep track of news on radio stations, to listen to law enforcement (possibly), to know what law enforcement is doing, and possibly for direction finding. He could very easily have had a small transistor AM/FM pocket radio. He could have used that radio to know when he was getting close to Vancouver-Portland (just like aviators did when making bombing runs in WWII).
But, nobody saw him with a radio at the airport or on the plane. We have no testimony that the crew heard a radio playing in the back. But, he could have used ear plugs. There are always hypothetical options in what is hypothetical to begin with.
ps: If Cooper intended to bail early to stay with a plan and a schedule/appointment (the Carr Theory) he sure didn't press the issue, just as he didn't press the issue of the missing backpack, the stall in refueling until Rataczak called an end to that ruse, and not having the stairs out! These stalls and allowances by Cooper put his first opportunity for jumping somewhere between Ariel and Vancouver, if the record is accurate. If you can add a few more minutes, now his area of drop falls in the Vancouver area proper and he is dangerously close to when the plane crossed the Columbia.
The fact everyone seems to be missing here is Cooper intentionally waited! He could have easily forced issues to get an earlier liftoff and stair out at take off or shortly thereafter! The "Intended to Bail Early Theory" just does not square with the facts of what Cooper actually did, and he was in control of the situation. However you read the facts, the idea that he always intended to bail close to Vancouver-Portland is a definite possibility. And of course some of his money turns up ... just west of Vancouver. I think the dots connect
If Cooper intended to bail out early close to Seattle, he sure screwed it up! That is not the mark of someone who is an expert tactical technician ... like Special Forces! Special Office Worker maybe?
