Dudeman wrote: “ Also, now supposedly Cooper is opening the backpack bailout rigs? I extremely doubt that. Unless he is now a rigger, it would be near impossible for him to get them usably closed again, what with the spring loaded pilot chute and all. Especially if they have the metal cones, rather than cloth closing loops, for the ripcord pins to go into.”

True. The military emergency rigs were packed very tightly. You’d likely need rigger tools to repack them. Paddles, flap pullers etc. I tried repacking my stock military NB 8 by hand. It was a no go. I finally succeeded by using parachute cord to pull the flap grommets over the cones on the opposing flap but it wasn’t easy. When military emergency rigs were adopted for sport parachuting, fabric extensions were sewn
into the closing flaps (which were cut to allow the insertion of extensions) to allow easier packing and to accommodate the volume increase that resulted from adding a deployment sleeve to slow down canopy openings.

BTW it’s a small point but there is no NB6 canopy. NB6 refers to the harness and container only. The canopy used by the Navy in NB6 rigs was the Navy 26 ft diameter conical. My life was saved by a 26 ft Navy conical. It was packed in my chest reserve. I cut away from a bad main C9 canopy malfunction and was ECSTATIC when when my dirt cheap Navy conical deployed with no issues. At that point I had about ten seconds of life remaining but for that sweet sweet conical. It’s obsolete now but I still have it and keep it in airworthy condition. Can you “respect” an inanimate object? I do.

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Bruce, the answer to your question about Boeing Flight Services has already been answered many times by the FBI and Hayden.  NWA personnel at SEATAC (probably Al Lee, NWA Chief Pilot at SEATAC) got in touch with Boeing Flight Services for assistance in locating parachutes.  They in turn got in touch with Hayden and he sent them his two backpacks by taxi.  Boeing Flight Services then got them to the NWA people at SEATAC by one means or another.

Robert, your statements are grossly in error, and your speculations on who "probably" contact whom is not helpful.

1. Where in the documents does Hayden say he was contacted by Boeing Flight Services? I have never seen anything that suggests that occurrence specifically.

2. Rather, Hayden told me that he was contacted by Barry Halstad of Pacific Aviation and George Harrison, the Chief of Flight ops for Northwest Orient. Where has Hayden said anything different, and to whom did he say it?

3. The FBI's document from the wee hours of 11. 25. 71, (164 - 81 - 83), which is the first document describing the back chutes, cites Boeing Flight Services as participating in the procurement of the parachutes, but has a hand-written correction in the upper-righthand corner that says the listed phone number is actually for Pacific Aviation and not BFS. Nevertheless, BFS continues to be cited in FBI documents and Norjack investigators such as you. The question I ask is why? What did BFS do and who did it?

4. Al Lee, again, was the Chief of Ground Ops for Northwest Orient at Sea-Tac. Why do you continue to describe him as Chief of Flight Operations?

          Is there any difference in the rigging cards of a chute packed by the military vs. the rigging card of a similar chute packed by  a civilian rigger? (other than name of rigger)

I actually don't remember.  I haven't seen enough military parachutes cards except those that were military surplus.  Usually, the parachutes for military pilots of high-performance aircraft, especially USAF types, are maintained out of the aircraft along with their other flight gear by dedicated ground personnel who are responsible for them.  In some military aircraft, the pilots wear an integrated torso harness and the parachute and survival gear remain in the ejection seat except for servicing.  Or to put it another way, some military pilots don't usually get involved in checking packing data.   

          Is there any difference in the rigging cards of a chute packed by the military vs. the rigging card of a similar chute packed by  a civilian rigger? (other than name of rigger)

Eric, do you know what kind of aircraft Hayden owned?

I do not know what type of plane he purchased. Apparently he needed the two rigs though.