December 1967 - CIA

"Preview and editing of an agency produced film on use of a Boeing 727 aircraft in making personnel and cargo drops."

"produced" is crossed out and "operational" hand written

"Preview and editing of an agency operational film on use of a Boeing 727 aircraft in making personnel and cargo drops."

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Not sure if this is referring to the clip in the known youtube vid... if so, it dates the test to 1967

.

Southern Air Transport N5055 leaving Boeing's Renton facility in 1966..

On a higher res image the panel near the ventral exit looks different than other 727's. It goes up higher on the side.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Southern Air Transport N5092

Flyjack, that area of the fuselage skin does look different.  Recently, there was a post that included an external video of one of SAT's 727Cs loading people and then an internal video of cargo being dropped.  The crew in the cabin appeared to be wearing parachutes.  However, I can not find that specific video and there are several posts which indicate that videos are no longer available.

Here is some additional information on each of the 727Cs that you mentioned and which initially belonged to SAT:

N5055 - Boeing 727-092(C), company number 19173, 308th 727 produced, first flight on 09/09/1966, delivered to SAT on 10/03/1966.  SAT delivered it to Continental Air Lines in 10/1972 and it was eventually scrapped for parts by its last owner in 1997.  Since this airplane remained in Boeing's hands for more than three weeks after its first flight, my guess is that it was the test aircraft for evaluating the modifications to the aft stairs.

N5092 - Boeing 727-092(C), company number 19174, 326th 727 produced, first flight on 10/11/1966, delivered that same day to SAT.  SAT delivered it to Pacific Western Airlines in 10/1972 and it was written off by its last owner after catching fire on landing on 11/21/1980.

Reca Update

I spoke with Jeff Osiadicz a few days ago. Here is a synopsis of our phone conversation. It is a snippet in my reply to an email from a Cooper World denizen named Paul.

"Paul - ...When you say that you think Carl has it correct, I assume you mean Carl Laurin and his contention that Walt Reca was DB Cooper. Also, when you suggest I interview the guy who helped Reca that evening I assume you mean Jeff Osiadicz of Cle Elum, who met Reca in the coffee shop on the evening in question.

"I have interviewed a number of people involved in this story, including Jeff and Carl, along with the publisher, Vern Jones. I've also listened very closely to the audio tapes Jones' publishing firm has released, and I've read the book by Carl. Frankly, I see nothing in their research to support their contention that Walter Reca was DB Cooper. Further, I found Carl to be a very suspect investigator, coaching Reca with leading questions. The most telling bit in the book for me is when Carl wrote that Walter told him his memory of the skyjacking was very hazy. Bottom Line: Walter Reca provided zero details of the skyjacking that align with other testimonies, such as from the passengers that I have spoken with.

"I spoke with Jeff Osiadicz a couple of days ago and he was not able to provide me with any addition information other than what has been delivered in the book and at the press conference hosted by the publishing firm. However, Jeff is a central figure to a still-lingering mystery: What was Walter Reca doing in Cle Elum on November 24, 1971? He was either DB Cooper or something else. Since I am convinced he was not Cooper, then what the heck was he doing deep in the woods of the Cascadian range? Soaking wet, too, and carrying his raincoat!

"Jeff is a former police officer for the Roslyn, WA PD, and later a deputy sheriff for his county's Sheriff's Office. He reports that he never saw or heard of any incidents or encounters such as he had with Reca on 11. 24. 71. When I heard of the initial encounter between Osiadicz and Reca I was thinking MKULTRA and other mind-control or covert ops training missions. That would suggest that other similar operations might have been conducted in the area over time, but Osiadicz has no information that can corroborate that possibility. So the Reca Walk-Out in Cle Elum seems to be a one-off event. To me, it is still a mystery."

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Southern Air Transport N5092

Flyjack, that area of the fuselage skin does look different.  Recently, there was a post that included an external video of one of SAT's 727Cs loading people and then an internal video of cargo being dropped.  The crew in the cabin appeared to be wearing parachutes.  However, I can not find that specific video and there are several posts which indicate that videos are no longer available.

Here is some additional information on each of the 727Cs that you mentioned and which initially belonged to SAT:

N5055 - Boeing 727-092(C), company number 19173, 308th 727 produced, first flight on 09/09/1966, delivered to SAT on 10/03/1966.  SAT delivered it to Continental Air Lines in 10/1972 and it was eventually scrapped for parts by its last owner in 1997.  Since this airplane remained in Boeing's hands for more than three weeks after its first flight, my guess is that it was the test aircraft for evaluating the modifications to the aft stairs.

N5092 - Boeing 727-092(C), company number 19174, 326th 727 produced, first flight on 10/11/1966, delivered that same day to SAT.  SAT delivered it to Pacific Western Airlines in 10/1972 and it was written off by its last owner after catching fire on landing on 11/21/1980.

Strange that vid clip was up for years,,  maybe somebody got SPOOKED

Those clips were taken from this long version - 727's start at 1:07:42 (download it, they might remove it)

.

Flyjack, thanks for the video reposting.  I have now looked at the entire video.  I'm beginning to get the idea that Ckret's remark that Cooper may have been a "kicker" was more than idle speculation.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Southern Air Transport N5092

Flyjack, that area of the fuselage skin does look different.  Recently, there was a post that included an external video of one of SAT's 727Cs loading people and then an internal video of cargo being dropped.  The crew in the cabin appeared to be wearing parachutes.  However, I can not find that specific video and there are several posts which indicate that videos are no longer available.

Here is some additional information on each of the 727Cs that you mentioned and which initially belonged to SAT:

N5055 - Boeing 727-092(C), company number 19173, 308th 727 produced, first flight on 09/09/1966, delivered to SAT on 10/03/1966.  SAT delivered it to Continental Air Lines in 10/1972 and it was eventually scrapped for parts by its last owner in 1997.  Since this airplane remained in Boeing's hands for more than three weeks after its first flight, my guess is that it was the test aircraft for evaluating the modifications to the aft stairs.

N5092 - Boeing 727-092(C), company number 19174, 326th 727 produced, first flight on 10/11/1966, delivered that same day to SAT.  SAT delivered it to Pacific Western Airlines in 10/1972 and it was written off by its last owner after catching fire on landing on 11/21/1980.

Strange that vid clip was up for years,,  maybe somebody got SPOOKED

Those clips were taken from this long version - 727's start at 1:07:42 (download it, they might remove it)

.

Flyjack, thanks for the video reposting.  I have now looked at the entire video.  I'm beginning to get the idea that Ckret's remark that Cooper may have been a "kicker" was more than idle speculation.

how so? on what evidence ...

Take a look at the 727 sequences in the video mentioned above.  It includes scenes of cargo being dropped through the aft stairs (which may have been removed for the cargo drop).  There are several "kickers" shown, including one woman who may also be doing double duty as a flight attendant, and all are wearing parachutes.  Based on the small stature of the woman and the relatively small parachute she is wearing, I get the impression that her parachute is an NB6.  If so, the other kickers may have well been wearing NB6/NB8 parachutes and Cooper may have selected the NB6 because he was already familiar with it.