RIP Bob Hoover

Bob Hoover passed away this morning. Any aviation fan who saw one of his acts at a airshow never forgot his airmanship. Soar with eagles Bob.

R.A. “Bob” Hoover passed away peacefully early this morning near his home in southern California. He was 94 years old.

Recognized throughout the world as “the best stick and rudder man” who ever lived, Hoover was the personification of the air show industry for many years. Whether he was flying his P-51 Mustang “Ole Yeller” or the Shrike Commander (which is now displayed in the Smithsonian Institution’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia), Hoover entertained tens of millions during an air show career that lasted nearly 50 years. Tens of thousands of current pilots were inspired to learn how to fly after watching Hoover fly at an air show.



During his legendary career as an aviator, he stole an Fw-190 and flew it to freedom after escaping from a Nazi POW camp, he flew a chase plane behind the Bell X-1 on the day that Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, and he flew as a test pilot for the North American F-86 and F-100. He lived during a time when he was fortunate to have known Orville Wright, Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin; he was a living bridge between aviation’s Golden Age and today’s modern aerospace community.

Hoover is a member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the ICAS Foundation Air Show Hall of Fame. He is a past recipient of both the ICAS Sword of Excellence and the ICAS Art Scholl Memorial Showmanship Award. He received the prestigious National Aeronautic Association’s Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2014. He is an honorary member of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the RCAF Snowbirds and the American Fighter Aces Association. For his service during World War II, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Soldier’s Medal of Valor and the French Croix to Guerre.
 
Not mentioned above, Bob also put on his great airshow in a Sabreliner Corporate Jet. I had just started flying one and was picking his brain about them in the pits at Reno where I was an unlimited tech inspector one year. I'm sure he tired of all my questions but answered every one patiently and then invited me to ride co pilot in his next demo in the Sabre! Needless to say the ride and opportunity of a lifetime.So smooth!....Thanks again R.A."Bob"
What a ride!
 
I had the opportunity to see his show in the P-51 and the Shrike Commander. Tremendous displays of airmanship. The "deadstick" finish to the Shrike show complete with rolling up to his parking spot on the flightline was incredible!
If I recall correctly, when he paced the unlimiteds to their start, his words were "Gentlemen, you have a race"
 
I was in Cape May, NJ in 1974 when 5 or 6 AT6-Texans crashed during the air races that were held in Cape May. The wreckage was still burning and Hoover gets in his Aero Commander and proceeds to fly the balls off it to try to take the edge off the crowd who had just witnessed some pretty horrid stuff.

I had the chance to meet Yeager once in an elevator after a speech he made at the Explorers Club in NYC and I said I had heard that he and Hoover were buddies. Yeager being the hardball he was just smiled.

Bob lived a very full life and was an incredible person in the cockpit.
 

Randy V

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Bob was one of the very best... He knew his aircraft far better than the people that designed and built it..
What an amazing legacy...
 
It is to Bob we offer thanks for the device used to prevent misfuelling.

Bob stopped and refuelled at an airport one day and due to the characteristics of the fuel, didn't recognise that his avgas twin commander had been refuelled with jet. The refueller didn't ask which kind of fuel was required and had refuelled a turbine powered twin commander earlier that day, so he put jet in.

Bob crashed on takeoff and was badly injured.

He later either invented or popularised the wide, flat opening in fuel nozzles which became known as the "Hoover Nozzle".

Although misfuelling occasionally still occurs, it is far less frequent due to the widespread use of the "Hoover Nozzle". Bob is known for surviving more crashes than any other person, but perhaps his greatest contribution to safety stems from that one crash.

Thanks Bob!
 
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