it's done intentionally since a 'Fighter Pilot gets shot down' sounds more like a failure than 'Bomber Pilot gets shot down' since the Bombers job is to fly INTO the FLAK/SAM arena before they can come out again...Actually the “V” stands for “Fixed Wing”. It is used in the Marine Corps also as in VMFA - 232 (Fixed Wing, Marine, Fighter - Attack)
don't mean to sound rude but did you mean STUPIDITY instead of inability?
Sorry, you’re only technically correct; but not in the larger scheme.
Although mostly involved in the bombing business, the A-4 pilots considered themselves fighter pilots, just as Air Force F-4 pilots and F-105 pilots were fighter pilots—although they also were primarily used as “bombers” during the VietNam war.
If you think of fighter pilots as only those involved in the air-to-air combat business, you are in error....
At least they’re giving him credit for being a pilot...
You know, I think this is a small detail. Your average American does not know the difference. They equate every military pilot with to Top Gun. They do the same thing when they refer to Marines as soldiers. I’m a prior enlisted Marine and that used to bother me terribly. Most of the press are not connected to the Marine Corps, so I’ve stopped expecting them to know the difference.
it's done intentionally since a 'Fighter Pilot gets shot down' sounds more like a failure than 'Bomber Pilot gets shot down' since the Bombers job is to fly INTO the FLAK/SAM arena before they can come out again...attack puke
The most generally recognized descriptive term for what McCain did is “carrier pilot”.
Every pilot I know admits that navy pilots have the best landing skills, and work in the most demanding environment.
What other class of pilots has to ask themselves “Where did my landing field move to, and why is it moving up and down in the middle of this dark night?”
Realistically, the general public is not generally interested in the details. If it’s a single-pilot jet that is capable of air-to-air, then it’s a fighter.
Believe you are wrong on this one. Try telling an A-10 pilot he isn’t a fighter pilot, and I think you’ll get some push back.
Attack aircraft are also called fighters. Heck, I flew in F-4s and F-111s, and the 111 sure wasn’t much of a fighter...although that never stopped us from pretending. However, when you are in an F-111 in a vertical scissors with an F-16, it is going to be bad.
it’s the same as how reporters still say the navy sent in 2 “battleships”...when they are CGs or even DDs
Not understanding why this minor correction is needed? The pilots of Navy Aircraft preferred to be called aviators, but I see no reason to correct every instance where someone called McCain or any Navy aviator a pilot.
Having trained with A4 Skyhawks at the Navy Education and Training Command in Millington, TN, I do know the difference between an Attack airplane and a Fighter. But the pilots (OK aviators) flying the attack aircraft were no less skilled than those flying the Fighters.
In fact strapping an 11,200 ‘pounds of thrust’ turbojet with wings to your A## and flying 586 knots with a 4,000 pound bomb load over a hostile AAA saturated jungle takes one helluva Man.
Oh, boy! An aviation nit-picking thread! :-)
Well, technically, the Skyhawk should have been designated as an "FA" as it could be used as a fighter and actually performed as a fighter in Vietnam. Air to air armament consisted of the internal Colt 20 mm cannons.
An A-4C Skyhawk flown by LCdr. Theodore R. Swartz of VA-76 aboard the carrier USS Bon Homme Richard, shot down a MiG-17 on 1 May 1967 with a Zuni rocket. Admittedly, Zuni rockets were designed primarily for air-to-ground strikes and were unguided and that was the first and only air-to-air combat victory for the Skyhawk in Vietnam but, this being a nit-picking thread, it was a legitimate air-to-air combat victory .
So, in a nit-picking sense, McCain was a "fighter pilot". :-)
After Vietnam, the maneuverability of the Skyhawk resulted in it being used at Navy Fighter Weapons School ("Top Gun") as a stand in for the MiG-17.
From the political and military aura perspective, it might be best to leave the "fighter pilot" designation given to McCain alone. In the popular mind of today, "fighter pilots" are considered cool and "bomber pilots" bring out the anti-war wackos by the bus load.
Even in the military, being a "fighter pilot" is considered being the best.
Ever wonder why the F-117 Nighthawk has an "F" designation and is called a "Stealth Fighter" when it has less air-to-air combat capabilities than a Sopwith Camel?
First, because the "F" designation was a ruse to hide its real nature from the enemy but, also, to get jet jocks that would not touch an "A" designated aircraft any more than they would touch a steaming cow pie to volunteer to fly it.
I also blame their laziness - they repeat indefinitely what someone else has already gotten wrong.
Just one more reason why I got out of the newspaper reporting business.
Although the various responses aptly answer the question I just have to share this one Navy Pilot interview from some documentary that sticks in my mind. I’ll have to heavily paraphrase (my terminology may be off too, sorry) as its been years since I’ve seen it but to me it really showed what they go through sometimes.
Here goes:
Navy Pilot; It was a particularly stormy, windy night with zero visibility. I was on the glide slope about 3/4 miles out when I hear “call the ball”. Well, I can’t see the ball so I wait. At about a 1/4 mile out I still don’t see it when I hear the call again. I responded that I don’t see it.
They did land and it did come into view like at the last minute or something but his description of that landing made me really appreciate them guys all the more.
Ok, I’m done rambling :)
Hat’s off to you guys out there.
JB
If they really want to get technical, what exactly is a community organizer? Other then attack Palin at mocking the title (after being mocked as a mayor), we are led to believe community organizers are jesus? give me a break
Townhall.com ^ | 9/13/2008 | Michael Barone
Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 12:13:06 AM by goldstategop
John McCain was trained as a fighter pilot. In his selection of Sarah Palin, and in his convention and campaigning since, he has shown that he learned an important lesson from his fighter pilot days: He has gotten inside Barack Obama's OODA loop.
And all this time I thought William Holden was a fighter pilot when he flew as a carrier pilot bombing the briges at Toko Ri in the Korean War, in the movie “Bridges at Toko Ri.” Since he flew a bombing mission, was he a bomber pilot rather than a fighter pilot? His plane was the Gruman Phantom.
Fighter Jet: Any military aircraft less than 100,000 pounds that drops bombs or fire's missiles.
Tank: Any military vehicle that has tracks or has a turret.
Battleship: Any naval vessel with guns or missiles.
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