https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2018/08/26/PPHX/44af0729-a2c1-4372-858b-b02cee122bcf-Benson_McCain_Jet_08_27_18.jpg?width=1280



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 03:02AM by steve benson.

Bravo, Steve.

Superbly well done!

My congratulations to you.

That is nice.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/A-4E_VA-164_1967.JPEG/440px-A-4E_VA-164_1967.JPEG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 05:56AM by steve benson.

May he have a better flight!

in reality, I was drawing an F4. I should have known better, since my bro-in-law flew a recon version of it for the Air Force in Europe. (And, in fact, I have previously drawn him piloting the A4-E).

But, hey, the F4 looks much cooler and, besides, McCain would rather be hotdogging with something that has more muscle.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 07:37PM by steve benson.

Good job,Benson! Hey, the Skyhawk was a bad-ass plane in it's own right. Took special guys to fly them and get in close to hostile targets. Arizona isn't the only place that will miss Senator McCain. The nation, and also the world, lost a good man.

Hell, go for it, John! :)

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of --Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air...
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew --
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.


High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 06:31PM by Nightingale.

Kudos. Not many people remember one of the original "swing wing" jets, the F-111. However, Naval aviator McCain wouldn't have flown either the USAF F-111 or the F-16.F-14, yes. F-16? Nope.

After all, these are cartoons that employ exaggeration, metaphor and fantasy to make their points. Strolls down the roads of literal history, they ain't.

I'll give you that. Your heart is in the right place and you honor the man the right way. You did a good job, Steve.

I think the misread had something to do with the fact that I was purposely drawing the fighter plane in the moment of banking away from the reader and toward the sunset, thereby emphasizing its undercarriage, which was dark and shadowed in places amid a lot of interesting and complex gear assembly.

But when you look at the profile of both planes, straight on from the side, there are distinct and observable differences in their fuselage form, engine shape and wing tips. Much of that was lost due the the angled-from-beneath vantage point from which I was drawing.

Once I realized what I had misdrawn, I tried going back into the final rendition and modifying the shapes that are unique to each jet, but the result was disappointingly flat and significantly less dramatic. So, contrary to my impulse to go with the detail of what I thought I was looking at, I returned to the original image of the cartoon--which showed a muscular jet fighter soaring with strength and purpose toward the fading sun.

I would hope McCain would have enjoyed riding an F4. He was a hot-rodding pilot, after all, and would probably have gotten a real kick out of saddling the lightning. He probably would have also appreciated the newer technology.

Plus, I had the opportunity to become more familiar with the F4. :)



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 09:05PM by steve benson.

It's interesting to get the details. I know that pilots and other professionals are intense about getting it right. Thank goodness, for all our sakes.

For most of us, we wouldn't know one type of plane or other equipment from the next. It's just lucky for us that some folks are so talented and courageous.

In wartime, of course, service personnel are the ones called on to head into the fray. Same with law enforcement and other emergency responders in everyday life. Photos/video always show them running towards danger - I get the chills from that. The unthinking heroism and willingness to be on the front lines.


Edit to add: Ack. This wasn't meant to sound like a criticism of Steve. I understand about artistic licence. A representation is not the same as engineering drawings. It's all good.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 08:49PM by Nightingale.

Beautiful !

Well done.

Thank you, Steve.

How many planes did McCain crash ? Was it five ?

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How many planes did McCain crash ? Was it five ?


Re McCain’s Crashes:

https://www.factcheck.org/2008/09/mccains-plane-crashes/

Excerpts:

“McCain did lose two Navy aircraft while piloting them. One crash was found to be McCain's fault, the other due to an engine failure of undetermined cause. A third was destroyed on the deck of the carrier USS Forrestal when a missile fired accidentally from another plane hit either the plane next to McCain's or, less likely, his own aircraft, triggering a disastrous fire that killed 134 sailors and nearly killed McCain. A fourth plane was lost when he was shot down over North Vietnam on a bombing mission over Hanoi.”

“A fifth alleged "crash" turns out to be a misinterpretation of a flight accident that did not result in the loss of the aircraft. McCain admitted to causing that incident through "daredevil clowning" but returned safely.”

“None of these incidents prevented McCain from winning regular promotions and being assigned additional flight duty. The Navy praised his "aggressiveness and skillful airmanship" when awarding him the Navy Commendation Medal for an attack Oct. 18, 1967, on a shipyard in Haiphong, North Vietnam, prior to his capture. The Navy also commended his "superb airmanship" in awarding him the Distinguished Flying Cross for a bombing attack on a Hanoi power plant Oct. 26, 1967. His plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile on that mission, but he "continued his bomb delivery pass and released his bombs over the target" before being forced to eject, according to the official citation.”


“First Crash, March 12, 1960: This took place while McCain, a young, unmarried officer not long out of the Naval Academy, was in advanced flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas. Timberg and McCain both give the cause as engine failure, but a Navy investigation blamed McCain's inattention to altitude.”


“Second crash, Nov. 28 1965: By this time Lt. McCain was stationed at Meridian, Mississippi, and was newly married to his first wife, Carol. McCain had flown to Philadelphia to attend an Army-Navy football game with his parents and was bringing back Christmas presents for the family in the baggage compartment of his plane. His jet engine quit over the Chesapeake Bay.” (… and he “eject[ed] at a thousand feet.”)
In January 1966, “the Naval Aviation Safety Center said … the accident resulted from the failure or malfunction of an "undetermined component of the engine."

"A little more than a year later McCain was promoted to lieutenant commander on Jan. 1, 1967."


The Forrestal Disaster, July 29, 1967 - "At the time of this incident Lt. Cdr. McCain already had flown several bombing missions over North Vietnam from the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal. As he was in his A-4 Skyhawk, loaded with two, 1,000-pound bombs and waiting on the carrier deck for his turn to launch, a Zuni missile accidentally fired from another aircraft, swooshed across the carrier deck and struck either McCain's plane or one next to it.”

“That triggered a fire and a series of bomb and missile explosions that killed 134 sailors. McCain himself barely escaped alive. He quickly leaped from his plane into the pool of burning jet fuel that immediately surrounded him. About 90 seconds later he was blown 15 feet back when the first bomb “cooked off” and exploded, killing several nearby firefighters.”

“The Forrestal was badly damaged and put out of action for two years. A little more than a month after the disaster, McCain was flying missions from another carrier, the USS Oriskany.”

...

“The fourth plane ...lost... [was] the Skyhawk shot down over North Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1967. The … official citation describes 15 enemy surface-to-air missiles fired at the attacking U.S. planes and "extremely heavy and accurate antiaircraft fire." Far from blaming McCain for the loss of his plane, the Navy awarded him, in addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Silver Star for his "conspicuous gallantry" while imprisoned by the North Vietnamese for the nearly five-and-a-half years that followed. Shortly after his release he was promoted again, to full commander.”

–Brooks Jackson

____________


When enemy combatants shoot the wing off your plane in battle, yeah, the plane tends to crash.

Etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 11:42AM by Nightingale.

sounds like his political ideas.

If US Navy Command promoted him repeatedly ...

Anyway, getting too political. I'm bowing out.



(Edited: On reflection, perhaps my initial word choice may not accurately convey the matter so I removed the phrase "excused him and" before "promoted him". Then I had to edit my edit).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 06:04PM by Nightingale.

don't worry.

What you're seeing here is a trivial macho thing going on. I don't blame you for bailing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2018 02:31PM by steve benson.

I guess it helps your military career when your father is an admiral.

In Hanoi, not so much.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2018 05:21AM by hello.

The Navy thoroughly investigated the incident (obviously they would) and found no fault by McCain. He himself was lucky not to be burned to death or otherwise gravely injured in the incident.

I'm by no means that well informed about this or the rest of his career but I did read about his plane accidents recently.

Well, your understanding is a misunderstanding. The incident that killed 134 navy men was caused by an inadvertent missile launch from another plane.On the USS Forrestal. It hit a gas tank on another plane (neither had John McCain in it) and then that fire caused a bomb, being loaded to explode. How about you get your shit straight before you attempt to denigrate a USA war hero?

It was. A carrier deck is one of the most intensely dangerous places ever. I've been on a few. Just falling down on the deck surface will get you stitches from the nasty surface. But, for that poster to insinuate that Captain McCain was responsible for that accident and those deaths, is reprehensible.
Also, during war times, quantity, not quality, was the norm when cranking out planes and armor. Things failed all the time, with no fault of the operator. Equipment, and soldiers were expendable. Just the cost of doing the business of war.

StillAnon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It was. A carrier deck is one of the most
> intensely dangerous places ever. I've been on a
> few. Just falling down on the deck surface will
> get you stitches from the nasty surface. But, for
> that poster to insinuate that Captain McCain was
> responsible for that accident and those deaths, is
> reprehensible.
> Also, during war times, quantity, not quality, was
> the norm when cranking out planes and armor.
> Things failed all the time, with no fault of the
> operator. Equipment, and soldiers were expendable.
> Just the cost of doing the business of war.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and putting things in context.

Thank you, Angela.

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How many planes did McCain crash ? Was it five ?


And this is relevant to a thread titled: "John McCain RIP" in what way?

There are a number of people who have disagreed with John McCain through the years.

But none of them are hijacking an in memoriam piece to drag up old issues.

Not that you're not nuance and balanced. Your Mofford piece gets a mention.

Byline Amy Silverman https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/john-mccain-america-senator-arizona-obituary-10001670

Thanks so much for posting this site. Amy Silverman's article was interesting to read; she is an amazing writer who is articulate, courageous, and seems industrious to follow the facts. She is a person I am happy to become, from your posting, introduced to.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2018 01:17PM by presleynfactsrock.

Liked your drawing Steve. To me, it captured McCain in a manner that words fail. Pilots, I have a son who is one, often seems in my viewpoint to be in the category of daring, very daring, risk takers who enjoy the limelight it brings them but are also individuals who are capable of amazing service and goodness to people.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2018 01:16PM by presleynfactsrock.

The helped me wrestle with my conflicting thoughts and feelings about the man. Plus it's well-done.

"Really, it depends on your perspective." <- Something I need to be reminded of from time to time, not just about Sen. McCain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhXCc3X0KTw

He truly was one of many fighter pilot heroes in US history. Now that we are in the era of drones (and other advanced technologies) we will still have heroes who put their lives on the line in serving people. But they will thankfully rarely be in roles as fighter pilots.

Jane had lots of roles in movies.

Beautiful

Steve, every time I think you have outdone yourself, you go and do it yet AGAIN. And I am so pleased that one of your best EVER was on behalf of Senator John McCain.

He was a maverick, as they say, but he always did what he thought was best for his country. You can't ask much more of a person than that.

Thank you, for drawing yet another glorious farewell to a national hero. You have such a gift!!

Very nice picture, I just hope McCain remembers which way he's going. I'd have been tempted to draw the plain upside down and flipping around, with Pallin yelling confusing directions ;)

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

Yep. It's a mad world. Where people can't spell plane or Palin.

Now that was obscure. Got me laughing this morning. Great reference. I understand why you're so good at your job.

“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

From the clown that got 5 Vietnam deferments for bone spurs. Same bone spurs that didn't effect him from playing tennis or hitting the dance floor in the discos. While men like McCain were dying and tortured while serving their country.

I’m sure that was not a pleasant experience, but at least he never had to serve as a Mormon missionary. And he didn’t have to spend his own money to do it.

babyloncansuckit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’m sure that was not a pleasant experience, but
> at least he never had to serve as a Mormon
> missionary. And he didn’t have to spend his own
> money to do it.

"Not pleasant" = extreme understatement.

We've heard accounts of negative experiences on missions. Not to diminish that but it would be quite a challenging LDS mission that could compare at all to 5.5 years of brutal treatment in a hostile foreign prison camp.

But in the LDS camp, the pain is self inflicted. At least his torture was from the outside. He wasn’t his own worst enemy.

Is the mind really meant to be a Battlefield? You can be certain that peace is not your friend. Maybe that’s the Mormon message. Just follow the script and it will be good. Or good enough. You can’t let someone else have your mind. That is hallowed ground. Mormonism only works through willful blindness. You can’t lead the world through willful blindness and self deception.

Sam’s problem was that he could see perfectly. He sees a problem in the church’s thinking that is a needless hazard. You can’t just pretend that your religion isn’t a magnet for pedophiles who live to pathologize. Nobody wants that. But those are the outlying consequences of the manner of being that they profess. How do you handle the outliers? They are there to teach you something.

So what do you do with the guy who told you the stack of papers in the corner of your office is a fire hazard? A public firing is the best way of protecting the integrity of your authority.

Oh please.
If you ever had bone spurs you would not say that.

I lost 5 YEARS out of my life having one and then the other of my heels operated on.

When bone spurs are cut away from your feet it takes forever for the bones to heel because you have to walk on them.

Even if you are not overweight is quite painful for a very long time.

heal

Well, I guess McCain should thank his lucky stars he never had bone spurs.

Beautiful *cartoon* Steve.

I especially liked your depiction of the landscape under McCain's bomber, with the two lone cacti. Fabulous symbolism.

Thanks for this thoughtful contribution to the McCain legacy.

Time to get Elton John to sing "Candle in the Wind."

That lost some of its cachet with the unfortunate Princess Di.

But of course that is your point.

Goodbye John McCain
From a young kid in the 22nd row
Who saw you as something more than sexy
More than life-sized GI Joe.

Elton and John, think what a lovely couple.

Thank you Steve for the lovely, thoughtful, detailed tribute to Senator John McCain.