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.
