DB Cooper Trail is a good idea. But most successful tour "trails" have an alcohol (and now a developing Cannabis) component. Need a string of brewpubs or something similar along the Cooper path. Kentucky's Bourbon Trail has become wildly successful.

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Who knows, the right owner or investors could turn the Ariel Store into a gold mine if this Cooper Trail thing ignites. I think Blevins is right that there is little hope of reviving it under its current ownership and mgmt. In that climate and with no maintenance it won't take long for dry rot to render it beyond economic repair. 

Sure enjoyed the DB Cooper Days party there during Geoff Gray's Portland Symposium. So glad I got to experience it and meet Dona before the store shut down.

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Yes and No, Marty.

Yes, if you believe that Wolfgang Gossett was DBC. Wolfie supposed stashed the loot in a Vancouver, BC bank, according to his chullins. Hence, the Letter from Vancouver is important in that regard.

Yes, if you follow Al Di down his very large Rabbit Hole to discovered secondary and tertiary meanings, ala Petey and Vietnam references, plus the System to Beat the System ad in Playboy, etc...

No, for most everything that most folks would consider a straightforward NORJAK reference that only Coop would know.

Yes and No, Marty.

Yes, if you believe that Wolfgang Gossett was DBC. Wolfie supposed stashed the loot in a Vancouver, BC bank, according to his chullins. Hence, the Letter from Vancouver is important in that regard.

Yes, if you follow Al Di down his very large Rabbit Hole to discovered secondary and tertiary meanings, ala Petey and Vietnam references, plus the System to Beat the System ad in Playboy, etc...

No, for most everything that most folks would consider a straightforward NORJAK reference that only Coop would know.

That's a 'no' in my book.

I don't have one. His book annotations, which I saw but did not copy, did not look like the newspaper letter writing that some attribute to DB Cooper.

Just got back from a vacation in Spain. A three-week break from the Vortex. I have completed withdrawal but, like a hardcore junkie, have returned to stick the needle in once again.

Steel reeling from that jumpship crash in HI. I have made many jumps from that very aircraft. It was our jumpship at my home DZ at Byron CA until 2016 when it suffered a stall on jump run (pilot error) and rolled inverted into a spin. Fortunately, the jumpers managed to get out. Had they not exited, the aft of limits CG would have made spin recovery impossible. The pilot made several attempts to recover control and finally succeeded but overstressed the airframe in the pullout and ripped the right elevator and right horizontal stabilizer completely off of the aircraft.  Miraculously, he was able to safely land the aircraft. I never dreamed that the twisted aircraft could be repaired and returned to service but it was. It was then ferried to HI. The ferry pilots were spooked by black smoke emerging from the instrument panel far offshore, but the problem resolved itself. The tragic crash may be unrelated to the prior major structural damage and repairs, but possible structural failure will surely be a focus of the investigation.

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Thanks Haggarknew. Vacation was great. 8 days in Barcelona and 10 days cruising the Med Coast of Spain stopping in a new town every morning. wMy wife and I walked at least 5 miles every day and often more. Ran into another skydiver over there, he spotted my World Free Fall Convention baseball cap. This guy started in the late 60s, like I did, using military surplus gear. I asked him if he had any opinions about DB Cooper. He opined that Cooper was likely but not necessarily a skydiver, but he was certain that Cooper had some familiarity with aircraft, parachutes and jumping.

Is there a needle exchange in the Vortex? I'm very liberal but the coddling of heroin (and now fentanyl) addicts bothers me. What were formerly needle EXCHANGES in many areas are now just free dispensaries, you don't have to bring in a used needle to get new ones. Guess what the result is? Used needles everywhere.

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I am curious as to where most of you hard core vortex dwellers were hanging out online in the early to mid 2000's. Was the Dropzone in existence yet?   Or Sluggo's site?   Hager enjoyed following many of the discussions although I don't believe he posted anything. I asked him whose posts he enjoyed the most. I believe his favorite was Mark Bennett's.(please forgive me if I misspelled your name Mr. Bennett)       Hag asked me to present his story to you guys (and gals).  He was very impressed by the work of the various investigators doing work on the case at that time. He believed that if the case was ever to be solved that it would be done by you guys. I am just trying to get a clearer understanding of who he meant by you guys. (remembering this was around 2005 or so)       

Thanks for the reply Bruce.   Hager died early in 2007. The last couple of months before his death he would show me posts from an online forum. I am curious as to what forum he was following. I regret not paying closer attention at the time.   Were there discussions about the case on Sluggo's site or was his site just for viewing?   I am sorry if this doesn't seem related to the case to most of you but from my perspective it is of relevance.