A Tribute to Legend Aviator, Bob Hoover

Sadly, this week Bob Hoover, a true legend of aviation passed away at 94 years-old. He was an air show pilot, United States Air Force test pilot and fighter pilot. Known as the "pilot's pilot", Hoover revolutionized modern aerobatic flying and was referred to in many aviation circles as one of the greatest pilots ever to have lived.

Bob Hoover would often tell the story of how he had escaped Nazi captivity in a stolen plane, tested supersonic jets with his friend Chuck Yeager, barnstormed the world as an aerobatics stunt performer in Air Shows. Bob Hoover’s trademark air-stunt on the show circuit was with both engines off he would do a loop, roll, 180-degree turn and land. He was such a skilled pilot that he once invited a crew from the ABC program “That’s Incredible!” to film him in action, he managed to pour a glass of iced tea with one hand while he rolled his plane 360 degrees with the other!

Bob started flying as a teenager, a book by Bernie Ley introduced him to the world of aerobatics and gave instruction about how to perform routines. He studied the maneuvers until he knew every one by heart and went up flying to test them, he shortly after enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard and received orders to Army Pilot Training School. During World War II, he was sent to England as a flight instructor for the Royal Air Force. The Army Air Forces later assigned him to Casablanca, Morocco, where he tested newly assembled and repaired planes and ferried them to the front. He was a valued operations officer, but keen to go out to fight, through persistence, he managed to persuade his commanders to grant him combat duty.

As a pilot with the 52nd Fighter Group, based in Corsica, Bob Hoover, a lieutenant, flew 58 successful missions before his Spitfire fighter was shot down by the Luftwaffe in February 1944. He spent 16 months in Stalag Luft I, a prisoner of war camp in Germany reserved for Allied pilots.

Hoover and his friend, Jerry Ennis, escaped from the camp during the final days of the war. He stole an aircraft from a deserted Nazi base, Bob Hoover and his friend flew it to freedom in the newly liberated Netherlands, only to be chased by pitchfork-wielding Dutch farmers because they thought they were Nazi pilots.

After the war he remained in the Air Force as a test pilot based at Wilbur Wright Field in Ohio (now part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). There, he started flying jets, he took on like the F-80, F-84 and F-86. Chuck Yeager was also a test pilot there, and in the fall of 1945 they became friends after getting into a spontaneous mock dogfight that ended in a draw. Soon the pair of them were touring the Air Show circuit across America performing air stunts.

Both Hoover and Yeager were recruited to train together at Muroc Field (later named Edwards Air Force Base) in California to fly the Bell Aircraft X-1, the jet that broke the sound barrier in October 1947 over the Mojave Desert. In October 1947 he flew the chase plane alongside Gen. Chuck Yeager as he broke the sound barrier, traveling past Mach 1, for the first time in the skies over Southern California. As Yeager's backup, Hoover always expressed regret that he wasn't the first.

A month after Yeager’s historic flight, Hoover had suffered serious injuries on an F-84 Thunderjet project. The engine had caught fire over the Antelope Valley.

“I was at about 40,000 feet,” Hoover said. “In those days, we had no pressurization. I was all iced up, so I couldn’t see out. No pressurization or heat. Both fire lights came on, and I knew the plane could blow up at any minute.”

Hoover prepared to eject, using the first ejection seat in America, copied from a German airplane he had tested. His aircraft was in a steep dive, at high speed, when Hoover tried to bail out, but the ejection handle failed. He unfastened his safety harness and oxygen hose and jettisoned the canopy.

“I was sucked out,” he said. “I went right into the tail, hitting the backs of my legs.”

When his face slammed into his knees, his rubber oxygen mask offered little protection.

“It knocked out a couple of teeth and busted up my jaw,” Hoover said.

Through sheer determination he managed to pull the parachute’s ripcord.

“I landed, crumpled up on the ground,” he said. “The wind kept the parachute inflated and it dragged me across the desert. I tried to pull the clamps, but it was too much force for me.”

Finally, a sagebrush caught the bottom of the parachute, and it collapsed. A farmer found Hoover an hour later, and rushed him to Antelope Valley Hospital, in Lancaster. Doctors put his broken left leg in an ankle-to-hip cast and his right leg in a brace. They later determined that his right leg was also broken. After six weeks of rehabilitation, Hoover resumed his test-pilot duties at Wright Field.

He spent the days of the Cold War testing fighters at North American Aviation. Hoover also served as captain of the 1966 U.S. Acrobatic Team in Moscow. He flew in more than 2,500 civilian and military air shows in the U.S. and around the world, according to the Smithsonian, thrilling those on the ground with his trademark routine: Shutting off one or both of the engines on his North American Rockwell Shrike Commander 500S, while performing loops and dives.

Hoover’s contributions to aviation include two terms as president of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He set the bar high for future presidents, by arranging to have the Apollo XI crew; Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins appear at the 1969 annual awards banquet, to receive a special award.

He had also asked his longtime friend, Charles Lindbergh, to be an honorary fellow and attend the banquet. Lindbergh had always declined before, but that year, he relented.

“When I brought him on stage, the place went wild,” Hoover recalled.

During his second term, Hoover arranged for women aviators record setters, Jackie Cochran, Jacquelyn Oriole and Hanna Reitsch to be present at the 1971 banquet.

Over the years, Hoover has been honored by many organizations. In 1986, he received the Lindbergh Medal for lifetime achievement, and in 1988, he was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame. The International Council of Air Shows inducted him as their first Hall of Fame member in 1995.

Hoover flew well into his 80s, but not before he had a run-in with the authorities when he was 72, in 1994, when medical examiners from the Federal Aviation Administration declared him unfit to fly, saying that his “cognitive abilities” had diminished.

Hoover quickly flew to Australia where he regained a medical and licence to fly and began a legal battle back home, led by the defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey, who had befriended him through a mutual love for flying helicopters.

Hoover won the case after 18 months, and his United States license was restored. His campaign found support among fans who wrote thousands of letters. At the Oshkosh Fly-In and Air Show in Wisconsin, posters were displayed everywhere saying, “Let Bob Fly.”

Hoover’s wife, Colleen, had died recently. They had lived for many years in the Los Angeles area. Survivors include a son, a daughter and several grandchildren.

Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project is a 2014 is a great documentary film about Bob Hoover, his career, life and achievements. The film was produced, written and directed by filmmaker Kim Furst. The title derives from the idea that Hoover spent his career flying on the "feathered edge" of the flight envelope, through his Air Force flying, flight testing and air show performing. The film features participation from Harrison Ford, Sean D. Tucker, Neil Armstrong, Burt Rutan, Dick Rutan, Carroll Shelby, Gene Cernan, Bud Day, Clay Lacy.

Here are some great Bob Hoover quotes:

"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible."

Bob Hoover describing his mindset on being gentle with the flight controls:

"Milking a mouse"

Fabrizio Poli is Managing Partner of Aircraft Trading Company Tyrus Wings. He is also an accomplished Airline Transport Pilot having flown both private Jets and for the airlines. Fabrizio is also a bestselling author and inspirational speaker & has been featured on Russia Today (RT), Social Media Examiner,Bloomberg, Channel 5, Chicago Tribune, Daily Telegraph, City Wealth Magazine, Billionaire.com, Wealth X, Financial Times, El Financiero and many other Media offering insight on the aviation world. Fabrizio is also regularly featured as an Aviation Analyst on Russia Today (RT). Fabrizio is also aviation special correspondent for luxury magazine, Most Fabullous Magazine. Fabrizio is also considered one of the world's top 30 experts in using Linkedin for business. You can tune in weekly to Fabrizio's business Podcast Living Outside the Cube available both in video & audio. You can also follow Fabrizio's aviation videos on Tyrus Wings TV.

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