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. All of the ingredients of a bomb. He demonstrates the simplicity of his device saying 'all I have to do is touch these two wires together'.

That indicates a basic explosive. if Cooper had an electrical detonator stuck in the dynamite, and the wires attached to the battery with a break in one of the wires, all he would have to do is complete the circuit by connecting the wires in his hand and BOOM. (if it was real)

He said his bomb was "electronic" vs. electrical. That's a step up.

I believe detonators that require power would be considered "electronic" or electrical?

Electronic detonators would be a handheld device that wouldn't require a battery separate from the switch. they are in the switch. Cooper seems to have had a break in the circuit from the battery to the detonator. I don't see anything else needed.

He could of added a switch instead of holding the wires, so he could of been nervous doing that, or it was fake and he did the two wires for dramatic purposes? (speculation)

Using two wires instead of a proper trigger, or even a simple switch for that matter, shows the lack of technical sophistication of the Cooper suspect.  If someone actually had access to dynamite, then they would more than likely have access to the proper trigger.  A person with military demolition training wouldn't be running around with a briefcase filled with explosives and a couple of wires with bare ends flopping freely in the case.  He would have spent a couple of extra bucks for a proper switch.  It would have looked more impressive to the stewardesses also.

I don't think the bomb tells us much about Cooper, anymore than the device used by McCoy tells us much about McCoy and his background. McCoy used a fake grenade, one of those cheap surplus casings you can get at gun shows, pawn shops, surplus stores and elsewhere. Someone could say "McCoy was Military because he used a grenade" and another person could scoff and say "You can get those anywhere, and anyone who knows anything about military ordnance would be able to call McCoy's bluff." As it was, McCoy was military, but the grenade itself would have been useless to us had McCoy never been caught, since both arguments are valid in the absence of information.

Cooper needed a prop, and so he created one that he could use to frighten people. He was trying to fool twenty-something flight attendants, not a bomb expert.

Differences:
DBC built his 'bomb' - McCoy purchased his.
DBC talked at length about the makeup of his bomb and bomb physics  - McCoy said nothing similar.
DBC showed the contents of his bomb - McCoy's grenade was unknowable.
DBC's tie shows evidence of bomb making materials - McCoy .... ?
DBC made specific military references - McCoy ?
DBC showed calm flexibility-adaptability in his handling of technical and social management issues - McCoy?
DBC was described by at least one stew as being an 'executive' (command) type.
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McCoy showed a lot of sack...the guy played co-pilot, he threw chutes out the back. he bluffed them with a dummy grenade, and an empty gun, he ended up looking for himself in a helicopter

And he was nervous, swearing, sweating bullets and agitated.  What does that say about the Cooper suspect who appeared to be cool, calm and collected throughout his ordeal?

And he was nervous, swearing, sweating bullets and agitated.  What does that say about the Cooper suspect who appeared to be cool, calm and collected throughout his ordeal?

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And he was nervous, swearing, sweating bullets and agitated.  What does that say about the Cooper suspect who appeared to be cool, calm and collected throughout his ordeal?

I think it says a lot, and I have given it a fair amount of weight, too.

However, after reading the crew debriefings and editing my book again to get it updated and ready for the hard copy version, a couple things stand out:

1.  Coop got agitated when the refueling took too long. One account says he banged the seat, but his agitation was sufficient to get Rataczak to "lay down the law" with the feds to speed things up.

2. Coopie got excited when the money arrived. Exactly what he did, i.e.: jump up and down like a child, giddy, etc., as has been reported by Ckret and Flo is a bit up in the air, but he did have some kind of emotional reaction.

BTW: My target date for the hard copy version is November 24, 2015! I want to bring a bunch to Ariel this year.

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McCoy showed a lot of sack...the guy played co-pilot, he threw chutes out the back. he bluffed them with a dummy grenade, and an empty gun, he ended up looking for himself in a helicopter

And he was nervous, swearing, sweating bullets and agitated.  What does that say about the Cooper suspect who appeared to be cool, calm and collected throughout his ordeal?

Regardless of how they acted it still takes balls to do what they did, but helping out looking for yourself ranks pretty high...

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McCoy showed a lot of sack...the guy played co-pilot, he threw chutes out the back. he bluffed them with a dummy grenade, and an empty gun, he ended up looking for himself in a helicopter

And he was nervous, swearing, sweating bullets and agitated.  What does that say about the Cooper suspect who appeared to be cool, calm and collected throughout his ordeal?

Regardless of how they acted it still takes balls to do what they did, but helping out looking for yourself ranks pretty high...

Agreed!     Both skyjackings took a huge amount of co-jo-nes, or a lack of brains, and maybe a bit of both.    We know McCoy's history and know he was the "real deal" (hero, brave).  There's no questioning his bravery.  And yet, he was extremely nervous.  What does this say about the Cooper suspect and his frame of mind?   

I think we will disagree, but I dont see McCoy as a model for Cooper, and perhaps 'not even remotely'! Carr tried to use McCoy as a model for comparing Cooper and I thought when that started it was wrong. McCoy the true expert vs Cooper the amateur. We don't know anything about Cooper's background or even who he was! [Did both Cooper & McCoy have the Dopamine D4 receptor (D4DR) exon III polymorphism? . . . That's a joke illustrating just how far into the ozone this can get!] 

We don't even know if they had the same cultural background. The two seemed to handle stress differently during the hijacking, as judged by the times each relieved stress, in different ways. They handled people differently. They handled their hijackings differently. One got caught because of his big mouth, the other was never seen again, and nobody seems to have a solid idea who Cooper even was!

My guess is McCoy would be insulted if you compared him to Cooper! Cooper might just laugh...

If there is any area of this affair where different observers obviously manifest wildly different assessments, it is in the psychological assessment of Cooper which runs the gamut from some reading 'motives and intentions' from the shape of Cooper's bones (Blevins), to the 'remote viewing' the real Cooper by others, to the pronouncements of the FAA Psychiatrist ......... all the way to Tina saying Cooper was 'polite and calm'! The gap between all of those expert opinions is large enough to drive the whole 6th Army through on its way to the Academy Awards simply to get an oil change!