Posted on 10/06/2008 1:21:38 PM PDT by jessduntno
Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator
By Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers October 6, 2008
The 23-year-old junior lieutenant wasn't paying attention and erred in using "a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn," investigators concluded.
As a presidential candidate, McCain has cited his military service -- particularly his 5 1/2 years as a POW. But he has been less forthcoming about his mistakes in the cockpit.
The Times interviewed men who served with McCain and located once-confidential 1960s-era accident reports and formerly classified evaluations of his squadrons during the Vietnam War. This examination of his record revealed a pilot who early in his career was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits.
In today's military, a lapse in judgment that causes a crash can end a pilot's career. Though standards were looser and crashes more frequent in the 1960s, McCain's record stands out.
"Three mishaps are unusual," said Michael L. Barr, a former Air Force pilot with 137 combat missions in Vietnam and an internationally known aviation safety expert who teaches in USC's Aviation Safety and Security Program. "After the third accident, you would say: Is there a trend here in terms of his flying skills and his judgment?"
Jeremiah Pearson, a Navy officer who flew 400 missions over Vietnam without a mishap and later became the head of human spaceflight at NASA, said: "That's a lot. You don't want any. Maybe he was just unlucky."
Navy veterans who flew with McCain called him a good pilot.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I’ve been Googling Ayers all morning, just didn’t know about the rings.
ROTFLMAO.
You forgot the “McCain was a lousy pilot” ALERT
LA Slimes is in the (septic) tank for 0bama.
Uhm, they install this into them in pilot training. Like standard equipment.
Barack Hussein Obama campaigning for an Anti-American Communist in 2006 on foreign soil on the taxpayer dollar in 2006 was no “mishap”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcpdUtxNQ
How about Obama openly campaigning for his communist cousin Odinga who signed a pact with Muslims to enact Sharia Law if elected and started riots when he lost. Obama campaigned for an openly Anti-American candidate in a foreign country in 2006.
Sounds like a "Top Gun" to me.
How about mentioning how he risked his life when the Yorktown caught fire and he helped rescue sailors, and then helped put out the fire. Or one could mention how hard he worked at painful physical therapy after his return from Vietnam so he could get back on flight status. McCain has always been forthcoming about his wilder days. A man who grows up due to extreme physical and mental hardship is a lot more self-aware than one who has never been forced to grow up.
Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), Germany's highest scoring World One ace, had his first solo flight on October 10, 1915.
He crashed.
Ernst Udet, Germany's second highest scoring World One ace, had a similar "problem".
Quentin Roosevelt, son of Theodore Roosevelt, had the same "problem" during his World War One flying career.
Quentin was shot down and died without a single victory.
Quentin Roosevelt besides his Nieuport 28, Number "14" with the US 95th Aero Squadron "Kicking Mule" insignia
Maybe Quentin's might have been too "unsafe". But, who are we to judge him?
****************
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." ...... Theodore Roosevelt
We don’t have any proof he was even born yet!!!!!!!
I learned about them just recently as well. Sorry to come off snarky.
I could tell that you knew of Ayers, but just not jewelery.
Regards,
BFD. This is relevant?
When that McCain "error" occurred, little Hussein the Kenyan hadn't even wet his first diaper ...
I respect anyone who had the cojones to fly those delta-winged deathtraps...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.