I'm such a fan of McCain that I want us to give him a jet and a lifetime pass to a bombing range, so he can relive the past glories of his youth. Other senators destroy planes and carriers by cutting budgets, but our Johnny Mac destroys them the good old fashioned way... with fire and brimstone and gravity, which, I must point out, is only a theory.
McCain's mishaps in the cockpit
Three early crashes drew Navy scrutiny. A review of his record reveals a cocky flier, prone to test the limits.
October 06, 2008|
Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano | Times Staff Writers
John McCain was training in his AD-6 Skyraider on an overcast Texas morning in 1960 when he slammed into Corpus Christi Bay and sheared the skin off his plane's wings.
McCain recounted the accident decades later in his autobiography. "The engine quit while I was practicing landings," he wrote. But an investigation board at the Naval Aviation Safety Center found no evidence of engine failure.
McCain's aviation record: An article in Monday's Section A about Republican presidential nominee John McCain's record as a naval aviator quoted Jeremiah Pearson and said he had been a Navy officer who flew 400 missions over Vietnam. Pearson was an officer in the Marines.
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.
The crash was one of three early in McCain's aviation career in which his flying skills and judgment were faulted or questioned by Navy officials.
In his most serious lapse, McCain was "clowning" around in a Skyraider over southern Spain about December 1961 and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout, according to McCain's own account as well as those of naval officers and enlistees aboard the carrier Intrepid. In another incident, in 1965, McCain crashed a T-2 trainer jet in Virginia.
After McCain was sent to Vietnam, his plane was destroyed in an explosion on the deck of an aircraft carrier in 1967. Three months later, he was shot down during a bombing mission over Hanoi and taken prisoner. He was not faulted in either of those cases and was later lauded for his heroism as a prisoner of war.
articles.latimes.com
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McCain crashed 5 jets, plus was responsible for the Forrestal fire. Something made the plane behind McCain fire a rocket, which hit McCain's external center fuel tank, and caused a fire. McCain panicked, and dropped two bombs into the fire.
Surviving crewmen of the USS Forestal and those who investigated the Forrestal fire case reported that McCain deliberately 'wet-started' his A-4E Skyhawk to shake up the guy in the F-4 Phantom behind his plane.
'Wet-starts', done either deliberately (the starter motor switch allowed kerosene to pool in the engine and give a wet start) or accidentally, shoot a large flame from the tail of the aircraft.'Wet starting' was a common practice among young 'hot-dog' pilots.
In McCain's case, the 'wet-start'cooked off' and launched the M34 Zuni rocket from the rear F-4 that punctured the Skyhawk's fueltank, knocked the M-65 1000 lb bomb off it's 500 lb rated mount, and touched off the explosions and massive fire.
When the carrier Oriskany came along side, and McCain was put in a chopper and whisked away. McCain was the only Forrestal crewman to be immediately transferred .I have a hunch McCain left for his own safety, because the crew wanted blood.
Now thats the straight talk express .
topix.com |
