AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014 - 12

LETTERS
pilots

Legendary test piLot

r.A. 'Bob' Hoover
Overcoming challenges to lead an amazing aviation life
B y J u l i e S u m m e r S Wa l k e r
Listening to BoB Hoover tell the stories of his life, one is apt to wonder Is
this for real? For the legendary test and airshow pilot's stories are larger than
life-just like the man. every pilot has a favorite Hoover story: performing a
barrel roll while pouring a glass of iced tea; his tanks filled with jet fuel instead
of avgas leading to design of the Hoover nozzle; his medical certificate revocation-and reinstatement; rolling and looping a shrike aero Commander; his
famous radio call: "gentlemen, you have a race" at reno; teaching pilots in the
Korean war how to dive bomb; and his escapades in World War ii.
the young Hoover at first was so airsick when he flew, he feared his dreams
of flying were over before they even started. "i loved the idea of flying since i
was six or seven years old. i thought wouldn't it be wonderful to fly. i dreamed
about it," he recalls. "i soloed at 16 after eight hours; 15 minutes each weekend.
i was so worried about getting sick. But i just had to overcome it."
Later, enlisting for World War ii at the age of 18, his dream to fly in combat
also was nearly dashed. "When i enlisted the physician said I hate to tell you
this, but you need to read the bottom of the eye chart. I'm going to leave the room
for 20 minutes. When I come back, let's see if you can read the chart. i memorized

that chart," Hoover says. "Later he told me he'd
made the best decision passing me."
He made a daring escape from a poW camp
in germany. "i was shot down and captured
February 9, 1944. i made several attempts at
escape and spent time in solitary confinement,"
he says. "after 16 months i escaped and flew to
the netherlands in a Fw190."
after the war, Hoover became a test pilot
for north american aviation, testing and flying its most famous aircraft-including the
F-86 sabre and the p-51 Mustang. His own
Mustang-n51rH, known as Ole Yeller- is
now based at Legacy Flight Museum in idaho.
Hoover was awarded military honors including the distinguished Flying Cross, soldier's
Medal for Valor, the purple Heart, and French
Croix de guerre. He is an honorary member
of the Blue angels and the thunderbirds, was
awarded the smithsonian institution's national
air and space trophy in 2007, and an honorary
doctorate by the U.s. air Force test pilot school
in 2010. He met orville Wright, and Col. James
H. doolittle once called him "the greatest stickand-rudder pilot who ever lived."
now 92, Hoover continues his amazing aviation adventure. He established Bob Hoover's
Jet Center in Van nuys, California. of his flying
life, he says, "i had some mishaps that i don't
mind admitting were terrifying, but i got back
into the cockpit and pressed on. i did what had
to be done."
AOPA
logbook

WhO | Bob Hoover, test pilot and airshow
performer

testing most of them."

AIrcrAfT | Flown 300 different types of
aircraft worldwide
exTrA | The documentary Perfecting

Flight: Bob Hoover raised money that
Hoover and others are using to offer
scholarships through Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University.

CHRIS HOLLOMAN

hOurs | "Not as many as you'd think-I was

"It is very difficult to encapsulate, in one page, the career of a
legend who has made such a significant impact on aviation. But
as you listed Bob Hoover's awards and honors, you omitted one
significant recognition. Robert A. Hoover was enshrined in the
National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, in 1988 and is one
of only 204 individuals to be honored since the Hall of Fame was
chartered by the United States Congress in 1964."
Michael J. Quiello
AOPA 2499104
Peachtree City, Georgia

112 | AOPA PILOT July 2014

Ed Chromczak
AOPA 162627
Beacon Falls, Connecticut

Bob Hoover

I really enjoyed Julie Summers
Walker's story about Bob
Hoover ("Pilots"). Over my aviation career I've been fortunate
to have met him at the Reading
Air Show, numerous NBAA
conventions, and AOPA events.
I remember seeing his amazing flight demonstrations for the
first time at Edwards Air Force
Base in the Shrike Commander
and immediately became a fan.
That flight demonstration raised
the bar of my piloting skills, and
he became my aviation hero.
I recommend his 1997 autobiography, Forever Flying. It is
an excellent read.
A.H. Duron
AOPA 1412865
Germantown, Tennessee

In the thick of it

I read Barry Schiff 's column about getting in and
around LAX in a Cessna 172
("Proficient Pilot"). He asked
the appropriate question:
"Why would you want to
do that?" But he didn't wait
12 | AOPA PILOT September 2014

for an appropriate answer. As
pilots, we need to be ethical
and considerate when exercising our right to fly. The radio
training could have easily been
accomplished at a busy GA
airport. Yes, flying into LAX
is legal, but it was also inconsiderate and inherently more
dangerous than the local GA
airport.
If a prominent columnist
of the premier GA magazine

doesn't have the good judgment not to take a Cessna 172
into a busy international airport where approach speeds
of 200 knots or more are the
norm, then how can the nonflying public respect the judgment
of any GA pilot?
This inconsiderate act
could prompt a call for user
fees at busy commercial airports. The freedom to fly is
at risk when pilots don't act

responsibly. I hope Barry
would apply his wisdom a little more thoroughly next time.
Don Purcell
AOPA 3839672
Winter Springs, Florida

We welcome your comments.
Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation
Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701
or email (pilot@aopa.org). Letters may be edited for length
and style before publication.

HANGAR TALK

what's available. Or maybe this
is just another reason to attend
the AOPA Fly-Ins.

"Winds can work for or
against us and they are
critical in the traffic pattern," says BRUCE LANDSBERG. "Too often we focus
on the final approach and
landing, forgetting that
the traffic pattern sets us
up for the final. We also
should not be reticent
about exercising PIC
authority whenever it's
required." This month's
"SAFETY PILOT LANDMARK ACCIDENT: A FINAL
TURN," (page 78) reminds

us about some basic and
not-so-basic truths.

"Phil Scott's story on the
Rev. Russell White and
his Eagle Squadron
deserved a deeper look,"
says Managing Editor
JULIE SUMMERS WALKER,

so she and Photographer
Chris Rose flew to East
Orange, New Jersey, to
meet the reverend. The
community flight school
was having an alumni
reunion. "We were privileged to meet many of
the outstanding young
men and women Rev.
White has influenced over
the past 39 years," she
says. See "REV. WHITE'S
AIR FORCE," page 56.

The QU-22B is the
most unusual iteration
of Beech's venerable
Bonanza that Technical
Editor MIKE COLLINS
recalls seeing. "This
clearly is a purposedriven airplane," he says.
"But it's the experiences
of the men who flew this
unique warbird in
Southeast Asia that
really tells its story." See
"THE BONANZA GOES TO
WAR" on page 70.

AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014