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    My Father Was D.B. Cooper: An American Story
    My Father Was D.B. Cooper: An American Story
    My Father Was D.B. Cooper: An American Story
    Ebook158 pages1 hour

    My Father Was D.B. Cooper: An American Story

    By Bradley S. Collins

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    About this ebook

    Meet Jack and Bud Collins, two brother’s who pulled off
    one of history’s most baffling crimes...The D.B. Cooper
    unsolved Skyjacking of November 24, 1971.
    The Jumper “Jack” was exactly who authorities thought
    he was: Businessman - Father - Stunt Skydiver and Pilot.
    His brother Bud, was a senior captain for Northwest
    Orient Airlines: Find out why they did it...How they did
    it...And what became of all the loot from the only
    unsolved skyjacking in world history.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateNov 22, 2013
    ISBN9781543905366
    My Father Was D.B. Cooper: An American Story

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      Book preview

      My Father Was D.B. Cooper - Bradley S. Collins

      Copyright © 2017 Bradley S. Collins

      ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Second Edition: Contains new evidence

      eBook ISBN: 978-1-54390-5366

      Cover Photograph: Taken on Saturday, Oct. 30th , 1971, at Seattle’s Renton Municipal Airport. Just prior to lunch, Jack Collins (D.B. Cooper) and his brother Bud took Jack’s son, Bradley (the author) on a complete dress rehearsal of the Stunt that captivated the world just a little over 3 weeks later. Jack and Bud took Bradley flying circles over Puget Sound, then landed at Renton…only 3 miles from where the hijacked 727 jet landed at Sea-Tac Airport on the stormy night of Wednesday, November 24th , 1971. Jack (Cooper) on left. Bud on the Right. Photograph taken by Bradley Collins.

      Brad Collins was born in 1957 in Seattle, Washington. One of eight children born to Jack and Grace Collins, he has very fond memories of growing up, beaches, trout fishing, crabbing, gardening, and mountaineering were common activities of him and those who he grew up with, as well as plenty of aviation activities. He spent years in business, but later married and took up ranching and writing, his true passions. He lives on a beautiful ranch in the Olympic mountains with his wife Robin near Sequim, Washington.

      The Real Ballad of D.B. Cooper

      Did they do it just for the money…

      Or just for the thrill…

      Few knew when it happened…

      Soon to find out it was real.

      They planned the caper for months…perhaps a year…

      Never they figured…to end in tears.

      The younger brother Bud…He flew those passenger planes…

      But to make the weekly gain…

      The older brother, named Jack…

      He stepped into the stormy darkness with the cash!

      Did their pretty wives find out…

      But never approved because of lots of mouths to feed.

      Their employers…They loved their work,…

      Never suspecting the acts of greed.

      Bud’s boss the famous Howard Hughes may have felt the same…

      You mean one of my pilots and his crazy brother used one of my own planes!

      Next…Financial…yes gains were made…

      New homes, cars, vacations, charities, and old debts and back taxes are paid.

      They thought they had it made in the shade.

      But as time went on…Doubt began to creep in…

      The older brother, the Jumping Jack, he kept his cool…

      But the younger brother…Bud, he got scared…and thin…

      And he felt like a fool…One of the wives wondered what might happen next…

      As the children went off to school…

      There was an early death for the younger brother…

      A suicide is what it would be…

      And sad at times was the older brother…For the rest of his life was he.

      Original copyright 2010

      I’ll tell you how this case will someday get solved! For somewhere in the world there had to be somebody who knew, or at least guess, who the hijacker really was and where he came from. The man had been somebody before he became D.B. Cooper. Sooner or later, one of those family members, or acquaintances would come forward with a story. I believe that’s how the case will get solved.

      Special Agent Ralph Himmelsbach

      In 1985, interviewed by author Max Gunther

      "D.B. Cooper, what really happened. ©1985

      I always thought your father was Cooper…and you can put this in your book…he was crazy enough to try it…smart enough also to get away with it.

      Jody and I always suspected your father was D.B. Cooper…

      My Daddy…and some of the other jumpers wondered whether your father really was D.B. Cooper…

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Grace Ivy Collins, who urged me to write it… And my Father Jack Albert Collins ‘Jumping Jack Cash’ who did it… 24th November 1971. You still go down as one of history’s highest paid stuntmen.

      A large portion of the proceeds, 15%, of the sale of this book will be donated to Operation Smile (operationsmile.org) a world-wide charity that provides for medical operations to fix children born with cleft mouths.

      After that, I’ll see how many solar panels I can afford for my small ranch in the beautiful Olympic mountains . (See the link on our website and follow our progress).

      Thank you for purchasing and recommending this title to others.

      Bradley

      Acknowledgements

      If anyone was to have watched television, or read magazines, or listened to the radio over the last 40 years…you’ve undoubtedly heard about D.B. Cooper. The questions always evade us: Just who was this mystery of a man? How well did he plan what he did? Did he have help or was he all on his own? And did he actually survive his own stunt? And if he did survive, what became of him and all of the cash?

      These are all good questions and my book will cover them all. After I wrote most of my story in one night (In around 9 hours) (plus one of two poems) I set out to find more photographs and evidence, and boy did I uncover lots of it. In addition to many new photographs relating to the crime, I also acquired my fathers parachute log books…because in addition to becoming D.B. Cooper he was also a highly skilled professional parachutist and pilot. In fact, (when he high jacked the jet in 1971 he was a parachuting stuntman known as Jumping Jack Flash.

      I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to all of the great people who heard my story and helped me finally to get it published. My wife Robin has been immeasurably helpful, having herself already been a published author. To my brother Norm and my sister Theresa for both the lost photographs and Dad’s parachuting and flight log books.

      A very special thank you to my Dad’s brother, Buds Widow, Aunt Nancy’s successful efforts to meet me at Anaheim airport with new photographs that turned up all these years later…many that will appear in this book.

      To Don Woods, my respected friend and retired Army Intelligence Officer for telling me early on that Dad was Cooper… (Even though I knew it since the day of the high jacking) Thank you again, Don.

      To the Farringtons, Jeff, Jessie, and Andy of Kapowsin Parachute Center of Shelton, Washington. Jessie met me twice, providing some additional proof about my Dad’s actions and motives. If you feel a great need to make a parachute jump, go see them. The chances are excellent that you’ll survive to talk about it.

      Also, a special thank you to Mike at the Toledo, Washington Parachute Center for being cool and professional during my visit there.

      Next, a very special thanks to the late Donna Elliot’s sons Byron and Jack, current owners of the Aerial Tavern and Store, home of the annual D.B. Cooper party held every Saturday after Thanksgiving for over 40 years. It is a lot of fun; the place is more like a D.B. Cooper museum than a tavern. I urge anyone to stop by and have a cold Rainier beer. That’s also beautiful country.

      To my old friends and neighbors from Edmonds who knew my father and always suspected he was Cooper, (you were right)!!

      To Tom Kay and family, who I had the

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