Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator

LA Times ^ | October 6, 2008 | Ralph Vartabedian

[stylin19a]

Probably helps that you dad is an admiral.

[tessalu]

Obama’s birth was a mistake from the beginning.

[stylin19a]

Probably helps that your dad is an admiral.

[tessalu]

Obama’s birth was a mistake from the beginning.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Hear,hear.

[Travis T. OJustice]

Negative, Ghostrider, the pattern is full.

[Jimmy Valentine]

"a pilot who early in his career was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits."

I never met a Navy Type or Airforce type who could strap on a jet fighter aircraft who had any other type of attitude.

Little girls don't fly fighters for a reason.

[weps4ret]

Obama made fun of John McCain not being able to use a computer for e-mail.

If I were John McCain I would point out that Obambi cannot land a fighter on the pitching deck of an aircraft carrier in the dead of night.

I wonder who is more qualified to SERVE as POTUS.

Gunner

[kcvl]

“The LAT seems a little confused about this disability. Ralph Vartabedian doesn’t seem to know whether to complain about McCain having a 100% disability even though he can still walk, muse over its tax-free status, or suggest that a disabled man cannot handle the Presidency. As a result, the article meanders through all three issues and never really reaches a conclusion.”

http://tinyurl.com/3uoglr

Ralph Vartabedian is a pig (as Greta would say).

[CodeToad]

It’s all over the net.

[VOA]

This examination of his record revealed a pilot who early in
his career was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits.

Gad, does anyone that become a combat pilot NOT have that sort
of self-assurance?!

The dweeb that wrote this article apparently has never watched an
episode of History Channel's "Dogfights".

Especially the WWII show that Robin Olds was in.
Telling about a couple of Luftwaffe fellows he smoke; one when
he forgot to turn on his internal fuel tanks...and smoked the
German while he (Olds) was in the glide mode with his fork-tailed devil.

And the one he managed to evade at low level, by used an EXTREME
manuever to turn the tables and down the German.

I just about could feel "the pucker factor" while watching the
show...Olds was giving some discrete chuckles at his survival of
those situations.

That's one reason I and writers at the LA Times will never be
combat pilots...we don't have the right stuff for that environment.
I know it, but apparently the LA Times "journalists" don't!!!!!

[gridlock]

We are all so used to reading about the Forrestal Fire, that we don't realize that some people are not aware of the details. Some people will not know that it was most definitely not McCain's plane that accidentally fired the Zuni rocket that touched off the fire.

With this in mind, read how the LA Times recounts the events...

---------------------------------------

In Vietnam

McCain was a pilot on the carrier Forrestal, off the coast of Vietnam, when one of the worst accidents in Navy history killed 134 crew members and damaged or destroyed various aircraft, including McCain's.

On July 29, 1967, he and other pilots were preparing for a bombing raid when a Zuni rocket from one of the planes misfired.

The rocket hit the plane next to McCain's, killing the pilot, igniting jet fuel and touching off a chain of explosions, according to the Navy investigation. McCain, who jumped from the nose of his jet and ran through the flames, suffered minor shrapnel wounds.

----------------------------------------

Now, keep in mind, that this description immediately follows repeated accounts of mechanical mahem on McCain's part. Note, how it says a rocket misfired on "one of the planes", and this rocket hit the plane "next to McCain's".

Now, if you know nothing about the incident, you might be justified, after reading that passage, to conclude that maybe that misfired Zuni rocket was from McCain's aircraft, and that somehow, John McCain was responsible for the fire which killed 134 men.

Of course, this is demonstrably not so. For one thing, it is not even clear that the rocket hit the plane next to McCain's instead of McCain's own plane. Secondly, McCain's aircraft was not even armed with Zuni rockets. The rocket was, in fact, fired from an F-4 Phantom across the deck. But the LA Times leaves the possibility open, and allows the reader to draw his own conclusion.

Disgusting little pricks, they are...

[ArrogantBustard]

Hmmm ....

Thank you for making your point politely.

I stand by my remarks, as written.

[70th Division]

And thats the kind of pilots they hire. I have met a bunch. They are all like that. I had a friend who did not have enough attitude. He is flying B-52s

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

BTW- I don't know if this is mentioned, but this story is on the front page of the slimes.
Hey, but at least it's below the fold! < /sarcasm>

[WHBates]

They obviously haven't met many Naval Air pilots. LOL

[magslinger]

SONOBUOY PING!

Click on pic for past Navair pings.

Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
The only requirement for inclusion in the Navair Pinglist is an interest in Naval Aviation.
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[Sparky1776]

The terrorist would be, one William Ayers.

“As a gesture of solidarity, the Vietnamese who Dohrn met in Budapest presented her with a ring made from an American aircraft shot down over North Vietnam. Bill Ayers would receive a similar ring while meeting with Vietnamese communists in Toronto. He later recalled being so moved by the gesture that he “left the room to cry.” He said, “I realized...America was an evil... and that I was... living inside the belly of the beast....””

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/obamas_foul_weather_friends.html

[Carley]

Who produced these documents, Mary Mapes?

[Carley]

Joy Behar called the first President Bush a war criminal and a coward for bailing out of his plane rather than stay on board and die.