John "Crash" McCain

I used to have an autographed book by "Wrong Way" Corrigan. Isn't that cool? An aviation name that everyone knows, even if it's used as a joke. You show up an hour late, say you got lost, and someone says, "Wrong War" Corrigan.

About John McCain. We all know he was supposed to be some kind of hero in the military. But you tell me, would you like to ride with John McCain flying? It's easy to say he's a hero -- and hold him at arm's length, put him on a pedestal. But would you seriously get into a plane with him at the controls?

What's all this about? What am I getting at? McCain crashed five aircraft! Is that typical for an Air Force guy? I seriously don't know what is typical, but you'd expect if everyone crashed five aircraft we wouldn't have many aircraft left!

Now, whether he actually knew what he was doing at the controls of a plane doesn't say anything about how good a president he would be. But it doesn't help.

Here's the run-down, and this site looks like it might know something about the military. I haven't looked at it enough to know exactly their politics. But it looks like they're equal opportunity criticizers of our candidates!

Here's "Crash" McCain's record of crashes:

• The first during a training flight in 1958 when he plunged into Corpus Christi Bay while trying to land.
• In the Mediterranean, the hard partying McCain lost a second aircraft. Someone said: "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral."
• Flight instructor McCain lost a third aircraft while flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game. Timberg wrote that McCain radioed, "I've got a flameout" before ejecting at one thousand feet. McCain parachuted onto a beach moments before his plane slammed into a clump of trees.
• McCain lost his fourth plane on board the Forrestal on July 29, 1967 when a rocket inadvertently slammed into his bomb laden jet. McCain escaped, but the explosions that followed killed 134 sailors.
• McCain was transferred from the badly damaged Forrestal to the USS Oriskany. Shortly afterwards, on Oct. 26, 1967, he was shot down and captured by the Vietnamese.

OK, back to my original question. Anyone want to go on a ride with McCain at the controls? The odds would be with you. He's due for a streak of good luck.

Out of that list, the worst one is the fourth. There he is and a rocket inadvertently slams into his bomb laden jet. Somehow he escapes, but explosions kill 134 sailors! That was a disaster to say the least.