[chariotdriver]

Yes I read about his Academy and Flight School antics pretty bad. I would probably have been thrown in jail for the same stuff.

You said he was a bad pilot, maybe thats why he got the A-4 but thats not why he got shot down over Hanoi, that was just the breaks.

My take is not really about McCain or any of the other personalities as I don't know any thing of them except from what I read. My take is more to that lots of people can be (on a sliding scale) a screwup rise to greatness, fail slide back, screwup some more etc.

Even if the A-4 was not the most desired airplane it was still taking the ordinance downtown. McCain or whoever, you have to give them that. I remember seeing footage of 105's Wild Weasel missions, the whole mountainsides lit up with AA fire and SAM's directed at them, AND THEY'RE ROLLING INTO IT

Finally I need to remember people cant read your mind on the Freep even if they think they can so I need to explain better from where I approach an issue.

[Pukin Dog]

Any man who flew the -105 was a hero. And the A-4 was a fine airplane. McCain is generally considered heroic because of his POW stint. Many have debated whether or not he behaved admirably during his captivity, but I will leave that for others. My point is that McCain in an airplane was always an accident-ready-to-happen, and that he never was qualified to perform that role, but had it handed to him from pure nepotism.