he has all the skills, including explosives...it's the age and nobody identifying him that is the problem...
He may in fact have been over skilled and under-motivated for Cooper's crime. Plane hijackings were high risk small payoff compared to other opportunities to Rackstraw's liking... and I seriously doubt there would be an ideolect match between Cooper and Rackstraw. This is simply a Tom Colbert and OZ production. Where's Dorothy and the Tin Man?
I have a different view Georger. $200K wasn't a small payoff in 1971. Rackstraw never seemed deterred by high risk. Stealing explosives form the military is high risk and he did that. Faking a crash into the sea to steal a plane is high risk and he did that. Murdering your stepfather is high risk and it looks like he may have done that. I think NORJACK IS the type of crime that an aviation-minded sociopath like Rackstraw might dream up. He had one hell of a grudge and all the skills. He needed money.
I just don't see any solid evidence that puts Rackstraw on the plane. Hard to imagine Rackstraw ditching 50K of the loot in an ill-fated attempt to fake a drowning. Why not wait to see where the investigation is going before literally throwing away $50K? According to TJC the banded bundles found by Brian were put there under the direction of Rackstraw. The odds that right underneath the plant spot there were thousands of shards from the money allegedly tossed from a small plane at another location years ago seems to be tiny. His age is still a problem for me as well.
I am keeping an open mind, however. Rackstraw joins Peterson, Braden, and others who could have done NORJACK. What we need is direct evidence that a particular suspect DID do it. So far, as I see it, that has yet to occur.
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Unfortunately, amid all the Rackstraw hype, I don't know where to look to get a bead on his mannerisms. Every time I read Tina's interviews - and I keep coming back to them not for fine details of appearance but for what he actually said and how he came across - I get a picture of a a soft-spoken, genteel man with the fine mannerisms typical of a businessman.
Now, anyone can fake a personality for a few minutes. But most people - and particularly those in the heat of something this huge - wouldn't be policing their body language much. The slumping mentioned could have disguised the specifics of his height, but apart from that I doubt he was policing his body language.
I believe Bruce mentioned Braden as soft-spoken? (I may be confusing him with the other B dude). Peterson's fine mannerisms are apparent in his History appearance. Wolfgang Gossett was a performer (that guy fascinates me; if fascinating = DB Cooper we'd have like 5 Coopers on our hands) and his paranormal videos show him as well-spoken (neither loud nor soft, but well-modulated with excellent diction.)
Does anybody have this kind of info on Rackstraw? I'm putting aside his gruff blow-ups at the media, but my "vibe" on him, like McCoy, is that the guy kind of came off shady/criminal. They look like crooks; did their body language and vocal tics match that? Did they have any kind of acting background that could disguise that? (Bearing in mind that a loud personality is easier to fake than to tone down for a long period).
I can't simply discount a suspect because I don't "feel" them. But didn't everyone, the first time they read of Cooper, form an overall picture of this "gentleman skyjacker" in their head? I just don't think any guy who looks/acts crooked/crude from the get-go would be a good match. Any video footage of the suspects named would be helpful. Not all suspects have been as cheekily public as Sheridan and Wolfgang. 
Its interesting you say this - focusing on ideolect. If you read the stews testimony (and Rataczak's to some extent) there were a few times that Gentleman Cooper flew off the handle and issued "or else!" demands. There is no question he wanted and demanded control, but once he had that then things settled down. I think Tina and Flo sensed a kind of duality going on... something just below the surface that should not be tested and I believe Rataczak and Cooper had a very real clash of personalities. Both being control types? In addition, it is very clear to me Cooper was very good and quick at discriminating personality types - he decided early/quickly that Flo was not a person to mess with whereas Tina was more reserved and easier to control, so he chose Tina. Cooper was all for the mission and focused on that, clearly. That hints at a decisive personality type who could be explosive if things dont go his way? When things go his way he is pleasant and almost accommodating? Contrast his personality based on performance with someone like McCoy or Kaczynski! There are very clear important differences. One has to wonder where in his life he picked up personality typing skills and why! That is a more common trait in females vs males and it is may point to occupational experience or training on Cooper's part? Keep in mind he throws in this admonition later: I will take you to a place you would like! Thats one helluva a statement if you think about it under the circumstances at hand ... its pure irony!
Nonetheless, both stews described him as never having been cruel and "rather nice". Of course the dichotomy must be there because the damn dude was hijacking a plane, after all. As we all have dark sides, that doesn't help us much.
My take on Cooper's selection of Tina wasn't that she was so much more malleable - Flo did everything Cooper asked - but so much cooler-headed. Any read of the witness statements reveals Flo as in extreme shock. She dropped the note, could barely speak, and was told by the pilots to remain in the cockpit for a large part of the flight. Her handwritten notes reveal extreme stress and are frequently incoherent. This was life-and-death for Cooper, too, remember. No disrespect to Flo - Tina was exceptional, and I believe a large part of why this case didn't turn tragic. Flo may well have been remembering the still recent 58 November case. I still get the shakes reading it, and marvel at Tina's sang-froid.
Typing skills - are you referring to the "Cooper" letters? If they were in fact written by Cooper, they are the work of a skilled, though imperfect typist who is trained in business writing, given the blocking of the paragraphs. I could go on, but the letters are a whole other kettle of fish and I really do have to go to the clinic before it closes!
I think the statement to the stew that they were going to a pleasant place was both true - the crew were going to a nicer place - Reno has to be better than a tense plane cabin - and Cooper in his mind was going off wherever with the cash in hand - and a way of ensuring Tina remained calm. Her least calm period seems to have been when she was worried she'd have to stay in the cabin when the stairs were open. He sent her back to the cockpit once he realized she wasn't needed. He seems to have had no interest in stressing her out any further than was a given under the circumstances.
