The great one is gone

[Cubdriver2]

Bob Hoover, RIP

He earned his way to the top https://youtu.be/AoHjAKuj2oY


https://youtu.be/g7R7jZmliGc


https://youtu.be/gXyDRG9za3c


Glenn

[Pat Horgan]

Thanks for posting this. Bob was no doubt, as Jimmy Doolittle said, "the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived."

I was privileged to spend a nice amount of time with Bob on 4 occasions. I shared a ride with him at Kitty Hawk, NC on Dec 17, 2003, as we drove out to the ramp to jump in our respective birds following the 100th anniversary of flight. Our last meeting was at a warbird safety conference where he quietly spoke to our small group of warbird pilots about the strategy of planning ahead for safety. It was a tremendous lesson and he truly wanted to impart his experience to make a difference in our flying careers. He told a story about a double flame-out immediately after takeoff after an airshow in the Shrike, since he was misfueled with jet fuel, causing him to deal with a deep ravine right off the end of the runway. Many have read this story, but Bob told us what he did in the cockpit. He explained to us that he had thought through this exact scenario in advance, when practicing his airshow routine, and chose to parallel his wing roll angle to match the angled terrain. He constantly adjusted roll to match the local terrain as he traversed the ridge. He carefully "flew through the crash," constantly bleeding off energy by exposing the belly at the right angle versus taking on the impacts head on. He bellied in and his passengers got out of their seats and walked away, as did he. And now, the rest of the story...that I heard him tell. He immediately went back to the airport and found the young fuel boy who was a mess and in tears, due to misfuelling and possibly "killing" the great Bob Hoover. Hoover went up to him and said, "When I come back here next year to perform with my new airplane, I will be looking for you to fuel me, because I know for sure this won't happen again if it's you." He was a gracious, tough, class act and we need more men like him in our world.

[Cubdriver2]

Thanks for posting this. Bob was no doubt, as Jimmy Doolittle said, "the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived."

I was privileged to spend a nice amount of time with Bob on 4 occasions. I shared a ride with him at Kitty Hawk, NC on Dec 17, 2003, as we drove out to the ramp to jump in our respective birds following the 100th anniversary of flight. Our last meeting was at a warbird safety conference where he quietly spoke to our small group of warbird pilots about the strategy of planning ahead for safety. It was a tremendous lesson and he truly wanted to impart his experience to make a difference in our flying careers. He told a story about a double flame-out immediately after takeoff after an airshow in the Shrike, since he was misfueled with jet fuel, causing him to deal with a deep ravine right off the end of the runway. Many have read this story, but Bob told us what he did in the cockpit. He explained to us that he had thought through this exact scenario in advance, when practicing his airshow routine, and chose to parallel his wing roll angle to match the angled terrain. He constantly adjusted roll to match the local terrain as he traversed the ridge. He carefully "flew through the crash," constantly bleeding off energy by exposing the belly at the right angle versus taking on the impacts head on. He bellied in and his passengers got out of their seats and walked away, as did he. And now, the rest of the story...that I heard him tell. He immediately went back to the airport and found the young fuel boy who was a mess and in tears, due to misfuelling and possibly "killing" the great Bob Hoover. Hoover went up to him and said, "When I come back here next year to perform with my new airplane, I will be looking for you to fuel me, because I know for sure this won't happen again if it's you." He was a gracious, tough, class act and we need more men like him in our world.

Cool story, I was a Kill Devil also on that chilly rainy day. I worked at Rhinebeck for a few years around then and I can tell you that the ORA guys would have seized the moment and gotten the Flyer into the air when the rain stopped and the wind blew just right at 10:30 that morning.

Glenn