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 ...
Probably helps that you dad is an admiral.
Obama’s birth was a mistake from the beginning.
Probably helps that your dad is an admiral.
Obama’s birth was a mistake from the beginning.
Hear,hear.
Negative, Ghostrider, the pattern is full.
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.
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
“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.”
Ralph Vartabedian is a pig (as Greta would say).
It’s all over the net.
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...
Thank you for making your point politely.
I stand by my remarks, as written.
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
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.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
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
Who produced these documents, Mary Mapes?
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.
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.