Hey...media.. Junior almost crashed a plane in 1976

[SoCalDem]

This page has an excellent chronology of the little twit


http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:zNFA2mlSx94J:www.geocities.com/purplesage23/1971.html+f-102+crashes+texas&hl=en&ie=UTF


1976:
President Ford chooses George H.W. Bush to head the CIA. Though Bush has had an extensive involvement in CIA affairs for nearly twenty years, he claims that this is his first position with the agency. He sets up Section B, a group of neo-conservative outsiders and generals, who proceed to radically overstate the estimates of the Soviet military budget. Bush strongly opposes Sen. Frank Church's attempt to make the CIA budget a matter of public record. In private discussions with high-level members of Ford's administration, Bush argues that the US can win a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. (Bushwatch)


Summer: George W. Bush flies a plane for what may be the last time. He flies a single-engine Cessna over Midland; the Cessna belongs to oilman Don Brown, who, along with his wife Susie, accompany Bush for an afternoon jaunt. It becomes obvious that Bush has no idea how to control the plane properly, and nearly crashes it during takeoff. Evans later recalls, "The guy didn't even know how to start the thing. That was a bad omen. Finally we get it started and roll down the runway, and he tries to take it straight up like a jet! We go into a stall, buzzers are going off. I say, 'Give it some gas!' We finally get it airborne, and he decides he better turn around and go back. I can tell he's nervous, but he says, 'Okay, Evvie, got it under control.' We come down and he lands half on the runway and half on the grass. And then he pats my leg and says don't worry, and he takes it up again. This time he's so scared he says, 'Hey, let's fly around Midland.' He had to get his confidence up. Somehow we got back safely. He's never flown again." It is possible Bush, who is still a licensed pilot, may have flown a propeller plane owned by the State of Texas during his tenure as governor. (John Covington)

[maggrwaggr]

1. so that wasn't the time he was drunk ...?

and everybody puked, and he almost killed himself and the people with him, and he stumbled out of the plane, dropped to his knees (and probably puked again) and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior?

Was that a different stunt? How many times did he almost kill people in planes?

[aquart]

2. License? What license? Who gave him a license?

[JasonDeter]

3. I say, 'Give it some gas!' Thats the official story. The unofficial story

I say, 'Give it some gas stupid!' 'Don't take this plane up again you stupid sonofabitch or I'll kick your ass all over this little cockpit!' We made the story up about flying around Midland later after we got drunk and snorted a grand of coke. Ya, George* was a crazy SOB!

[david_vincent]

4. I hate to say this

because it's really just mean speculation, but...
he did score 25 on his flight aptitude test, the minimum
acceptable score for flight school. Sometimes I have to
wonder if he really scored 25, or if his - and only his -
test was graded on a curve, and the poor sap who had to
do it could only bring himself to give him the barely
passing grade.

[ComerPerro]

8. That is a really good point

Probably the case. The fact that he scored the bare minimum is suspicious

[SoCalDem]

9. He's been getting a "leg-up" his entire life

You know darned well that the congressman/CIA guy's son would not be allowed to "fail"..

Just like he was not allowed to fail in college..

They were flattered to have him, and couldn't wait to have their pictures taken with the "celebrity soldier"..:puke:

The guys who ran those guard & reserve units had aspirations for their futures.. A little quid pro quo in action..

I wonder if anyone has researched what these commanders did during Poppy's term..

Were there any "sudden promotions" or administration appointments like Albaugh & Bartlett??

[Minstrel Boy]

5. fictional president, fictional pilot, fictional weapons...

fictional times.

[mikeytherat]

16. OMG! Is that the real doll?

Holy Sh*t, Batman! They even got G. W. and his Daddy mixed up for the packaging (G. H. W. Bush was the Naval Aviator, the idiot offspring may or may not have tried to fly an F-102 for the TANG).

And people lap this up. Ugh.

mikey_the_rat

[BiggJawn]

18. The "Naval" reference is from "Carrier-gate"...

Remember? "mission accomplished" and all that?

[4morewars]

6. from your post...

---edit---
In private discussions with high-level members of Ford's administration, Bush argues that the US can win a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. (Bushwatch)
---edit---

How the fuck does anyone win a "nukular" war ???? Is the entire family insane ?? :wtf:

[david_vincent]

7. This was a widely debated point among certain circles

back in the 50s. There were definitely people at the highest
levels who thought a nuclear war would be winnable. In fact,
somewhere I have a book from the early days of the cold war
that argues this very case, and the author is completely serious.

[4morewars]

10. WOW

That is so scary , I don't even know where to begin. We are at the mercy of imbeciles.

[SoCalDem]

11. Did you also know that in the 50's....

Hotels in Vegas made box lunches for their guests and took them to places where they could watch the nuclear testing that went n near there???

There were actually PSA's on TV that told people that sunglasses were enough "protection" and that nukes were our "friends"//

Rent "Atomic Cafe" sometime :)

[4morewars]

12. I can't handle anymore !!!!

Its just too much, the more I learn , the harder it gets.


PS my wife and i were there(vegas) in december, i had no idea how pretty the desert would be !!!!

[david_vincent]

13. I saw Atomic Cafe in the theater!

Back when it came out.
The thing that I find most disturbing are the reports
(unconfirmed, but apparently substantial) that in the
first desert tests, they took some patients out of a
mental hospital and brought them within a certain
distance of the blast "to see what would happen" and
they were incinerated.

[grasswire]

14. isn't the new guy on the 9-11 commission...

...the guy who developed that theory? Seriously. Check that thread for more info.

[gander2112]

20. I thought everybody knew this...

Totally serious. It was before the proliferation got to the point of MAD. There were people who planned for nuclear war with the "winner" retaining enough infrastructure and population to regain world domination.

I wish I remembered the sources. I will have to hit Google today to hunt...

Of course by the late 60's the policy of Mutual Assured Destruction was the game and deterrence was the "theory".

Geoff

[izzie]

15. I do believe their was some to do on his father also.

He ditched his plane and killed his co-pilot and landed in water for I think 30 minutes and a sub picked him up.I read about this years and years ago.

[Vickers]

17. Two crewmen died when Bush the Elder ditched his plane

He ended up getting some award (Distinguished Flying Cross, maybe?), but I have read some places that hinted that he ditched without telling the crew, meaning they didn't also have a chance to parachute down (one was a gunner, so he at the very least wouldn't have been in the cockpit).

True? I dunno. I read it on the internet so it must be true.

[BiggJawn]

19. Heavily documented

Statements from other members of Poppy's flight, etc. One story states that Poppy's TBM gave a "puff" of smoke and kept flying, but then Bush bailed out, no other parachutes seen.

I believe the stories.