Rest in Peace, Bob Hoover

3,243 Views | 7 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by BenderRodriguez
CanyonAg77
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Bob Hoover, probably the greatest pilot ever, has passed. One of my personal heroes.

If you don't know him, Google around. Fascinating guy, amazing stick and rudder guy, WWII pilot, escaped from a POW camp and stole a German plane, was Yeager's chase pilot, airshow pilot extraordinaire, and much, much more.

http://www.flyingmag.com/aviation-legend-bob-hoover-dies-at-94

Quote:

News of the death of legendary test pilot and aerobatics pioneer Bob Hoover this morning has brought grief to the aviation community.

Hoover, known among his many fans as the "pilot's pilot," died at about 2 a.m. PT, according to reports. He was 94 years old.

Hoover's flying career began when he was a teenager. He soon enlisted and flew in World War II as a fighter pilot. After being shot down over Italy and spending 16 months in a German POW camp, he famously escaped by stealing a Fw190 fighter and flying it to the Netherlands.

He went on to become a U.S. Air Force test pilot alongside Chuck Yeager and later revolutionized aerobatics with his airshow routines in his instantly recognizable green and white Shrike Commander and yellow P-51 Mustang. The movie Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project recounts his entire storied career in detail....




Centerpole90
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RIP Bob. He was one of a kind. I remember watching his Shrike Commander demonstrations at the CAF airshows in Harlingen when I was a kid. 'Trading airspeed for altitude' just like balancing an equation - he made amazing flying seem so simple.

My late uncle would attend the Nat'l Championship Air Races in Reno every September. in about 1986 he landed 'Ole Yeller', his P-51 pictured in the OP, and when as exited the runway waving to the crowd he taxied right over a parked pickup. Of course that disabled Ole Yeller for the rest of the week. The next morning when Bob got to the flight line all of the flag trucks had big bull eyes painted on them.
IDAGG
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A true legend. One of the best. He was in the same prisoner of war camp as my father, but my father didn't know him. His Shrike demos are legendary.

Also IIRC some no-nuts FAA inspector accused him of being an alcoholic because 'he has a big red nose" that resulted in Hoover losing his license. Someone correct me if I am wrong on this. Bureaucracy...ain't it great. I don't remember if Hoover ever got his license back.
CanyonAg77
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He did lose his license and regained it after a bitter struggle.

Some @$$hole FAA bureaucrats wanted a scalp, so they went after the biggest.

I heartily recommend his autobio, "Forever Flying".
NormanAg
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I saw Hoover give the Shrike demo that resulted in his license suspension. It was at a huge airshow in OKC, sometime in 1994. OKC is the home of a pretty big FAA operation - the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, which includes the Airman Certification office for FAA.

The FAA guy that pulled his license worked in the Airman Certification office. He was at the the airshow and claimed that Hoover was endangering the spectators with his Shrike performance. The local media covered the story at the time.

CanyonAg77
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As I recall, the film of that airshow showed that the FAA guy was full of crap.

One of the great Hoover stories is about his forgiveness of the line boy that filled his piston aircraft with Jet fuel, leading to a crash. On mobile, so I dont have the whole story. But I do recall that he insisted that the same guy was the only one to service his plane from then on.

It also lead to a redesign of fuel filler spouts and nozzles for turbine aircraft.

EDIT: Had it backwards. It was Jet-a in a piston plane. Corrected it.
CanyonAg77
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Here's a great article, that among other things, details the jerks at the FAA and what they did to Hoover.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/october/26/aviation-legend-bob-hoover-dies-at-94
Quote:

t was a dead stick act that would open a dark chapter in his airshow career. In 1992, two FAA inspectors claimed Hoover performed poorly during one show, despite video and eyewitness accounts to the contrary. Later, after Hoover had flown another 33 airshows, the inspectors reported their findings and the FAA asked for his medical certificate. He obliged and at his own expense went through a battery of medical exams. The FAA's appointed doctor found nothing wrong and recommended he get his certificate back. The FAA refused and issued an emergency revocation, despite no evidence of any medical problem. The case dragged on for more than two-and-a-half years, during which Hoover got an Australian pilot certificate and continued to perform shows internationally.

He was represented before the FAA, the NTSB, and in the courts by friends F. Lee Bailey and AOPA General Counsel John Yodice. Ultimately, the FAA in 1995 returned his medical certificate without ever offering an apology or explanation.

The FAA's baseless actions against Hoover sent fear through the entire pilot population. The thinking was that if they can do it to a famous pilot they can act against any pilot. AOPA, other organizations, and legislators set out to rein in the agency with what became to be known as the "Hoover Bill." Introduced by AOPA member Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the bill, ultimately signed into law, allowed pilots the chance to immediately appeal an FAA emergency certificate revocation to the NTSB chairman.

Phil Boyer was president of AOPA at the time and reflected on the impact after hearing about Hoover's death: "There are a handful of issues during my tenure as AOPA's president that I would classify as iconic. The revocation of Bob Hoover's medical was felt by all of us who depend on that document in order to fly. There was no hesitation on the association's part to devote the financial, political, and legal support to the injustice the FAA imposed on this amazing aerobatic pilot."

The level of trust between pilots and the FAA has never been the same. "The FAA has never recovered from the Hoover case," said Yodice upon hearing of Hoover's passing. "He was persecuted by the FAAunjustifiably. And yet he never had a bad word about the FAA even though he was entitled to. He's been a perfect gentleman all the years I've known him. The grace and gentleness we experienced with him, that's what I will remember."




IDAGG
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From a 1994 article. GD unelected bureaucrats:

Quote:

AT AN OKLAHOMA CITY AIR SHOW two years ago, Bob Hoover lifted off in his twin-engine Shrike Commander prop plane, executed some daring twists and somersaults, shut down both engines at 3,500 feet, threw in another flipand then glided to a perfect landing before thousands of cheering fans. It was a routine stunt for Hoover, known in aviation circles as one of the greatest living pilots. But two observers in the crowdinspectors that the Federal Aviation Administration sends to all air showswere not impressed. Calling the 72-year-old daredevil's flying flawed, they ordered him to get a physical. He didand passed. But the FAA wasn't satisfied. It chose another set of doctors to examine Hoover, and this time he was judged unfit to fly. In April 1993, the FAA grounded him.

Quote:

And a brain scan showed irregularities that one neurologist, citing Hoover's "bulbous red nose," hypothesized could be a result of heavy drinking.

Hoover calls the FAA's tests "nutty" and insulting and says they have nothing to do with his ability to fly. One test, he says, lasted six hours and involved repeating lists of words. As for his red nose, Hoover says, "If they'd done their homework, they'd know I've had numerous surgeries on my nose to remove skin cancer."
http://people.com/archive/thrown-for-a-loop-vol-42-no-12/

EDIT: I might add that if he was an alcoholic as the doctor suggested there is no way he would have lived to the ripe old age of 94. This episode still pisses me off.
BenderRodriguez
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Seems to be a man who defied the saying "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."

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