The Man In 18C (New "D. B. Cooper" movie)
 

Hi everybody,

I'm doing the aircraft-related CG work for "The Man In 18C", which is a new movie on the infamous "D.B. Cooper" hijacking incident. Cooper managed to obtain $200,000 in cash ransom, then parachuted from the aft "air stairs" on a Boeing 727.

So, I've updated my previously-built 3D model of the 727 to look like the actual aircraft used in the incident, and am also providing a follow-along article, for those of you who are interested in the 3D-to-movie process. That article begins at http://www.mikejamesmedia.com/the_man_in_18c_01.html

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

I dont now what Delta did with the plane, but I would see the real plane he jumped from all the time when I worked as a line mech. I forget the SN now.

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

Cool.

It's #467. Here's one of the early tests I did of the Northwest Orient paint scheme.

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

UPS wound up with it. Don't know where it is now.....
Paul

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

Nice 3D work - when is the projected release for the film?<div>
Graeme</div>

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

Graeme,

Sorry... Don't know that yet.

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

I just have one question; did you want to do a 727-100 or 727-200? Since I don't know which series that particular plane was, the serial number, I don't know if your plane is correct or not. The number listed, N467US, is a registration number assigned to that plane by the FAA so it may or may not be of help in this case. That all being said, if you wanted a -100, your plane appears to be correct as far as I can tell. If the plane wanted is a 200 series, the fuselage should be longer and the center engine intake elongated in height.
As far as what happened to it, I used to work at a jetliner maintenance facility contracted by UPS to do maintenance and repair on their fleet of 727s and 757s. All of the 727s I worked on had been retrofitted with a main deck cargo door after being aquired by UPS. If you want to know more about the two versions of the 727, this site will give technical info: http://www.airliners.net/aircraft-data/stats.main?id=90

After doing a bit more research, I found your plane to be a 727-51, a 100 series. I even got lucky and found pictures of it with a couple variations of the paint scheme at http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...gsearch=N467US

I found this short history as well:
N838N / 838 (cn 18803/137) "Mt. Mitchell Pacemaker". Touching down runway 26L from CLT. With Northwest Airlines as N467US, the famous D.B. Cooper hijacked aircraft - leapt out back door parachuting to ground w/ $. First flight was April 9, 1965. Delivery date was April 22, 1965. Other serials - N29KA with Key Airlines and Worldcorp Lsg Inc, N838N with United Technologies - test navigation equipmt, and also N467US with Key Als and Northwest Als - the D.B. Cooper airplane. Stored at GWO during February 1993. Broken-up during 1996.

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

Thanks very much for all that info.

My 727-100 was finished over a year ago, and only needed to be updated for this movie. That work is done, as well, and all those involved have already done the "D. B. Cooper" research.

I miss those days sometimes. I started flying as a young boy, in DC-3's and Constellations, so when the 727 came out, we all suddenly felt like the Jetsons. I remember the sound (higher-pitched than the larger engines of today) and the smell of jet fuel, and thought it was just fantastic. It must have been interesting to work around them.

Thanks again.

RE: The Man In 18C (New
 

It does have its moments, both good and bad. Some work is easy due to lots of space, other tasks are almost impossible due to no space or access points to get to the required work site. Getting used to working on intertwined components that were designed and drawn onto the pre-autocad blueprints by computer-illiterate engineers made things even more "interesting". Todays modern jets are night and day different but still have their own idiosyncracies to deal with