Tribute to Bob Hoover…

Bob Hoover, one of the greatest and longest flying acrobatic demonstration pilots got a rather special 90th birthday tribute

This is what Jeppesen did for him; definitely one of a kind, for one of a kind!!!

This ‘approach’ plate was designed as a tribute, and all the little ‘stars’ are people he knew and flew with… 

And in case you’ve never seen him in action…


Did ya notice, the engines were OFF for the last half of that demo? He calls that part of the show “Energy Management”…

Sadly he was grounded in the early 90’s due to a medical condition, but if you ever had a chance to see him fly, he was TRULY one of the greats!

Comments

Tribute to Bob Hoover… — 18 Comments

  1. Love the “missed approach!” Someone did themselves proud with that one. Good on them.

    LittleRed1

  2. I still enjoy the video of him doing a roll with a glass of ice tea on the glareshield.

    Nobody but NOBODY can fly a Twin Commander better than Bob Hoover.

    Legend isn’t nearly a big enough word to describe him.

    –AOA

  3. That is down right awesome.

    I do wish he wasn’t grounded, there’s just something not right with using that word about a pilot of his caliber.

  4. I saw him at an airshow at Dulles Airport where he flew both the Aero Commander and his P-51. The 51 didn’t deploy one main gear and I was able to listen to him being calm, cool and very collected from my post in medical control. He was/is an amazing individual.

  5. It’s hard enough to get your own body to move that smoothly and efficiently. To do it with an airplane…

    I’m no pilot but that looked incredible.

  6. I think it’s still difficult to find the names of the two FAA fools who grounded him…
    (And as I recall, one of ’em was fired pretty quickly.)
    They screw up A LOT, but that’s one of their biggest screwups.
    After they grounded him he went to Australia where they immediately gave him a license to do airshows there, and he did them without problem until his “problem” back here was resolved.

  7. Thanks for posting about one of Aviation’s true greats. He was, is and always will be in the top tier of fliers.

  8. I had the pleasure to see the Shrike fights a couple times.
    Took a week after them before the neck hairs laid flat again.

  9. I met him once in the 90s just before he was grounded. A group had an Air Race tour across the country and one race was conducted at the former Olathe Naval Airstation (now New Century Airport.) The group went around to all the local airports recruiting folks to help out with the race. I was once of a number of pylon judges. Afterwards we had a private tour of the flightline. I forget what Bob Hoover was flying. I seem to remember it was a T-33 that did stunts between the races. He thanked us all for our help with the race.

  10. Hoover is one of The Greats. I was a kid the first time I saw him at an air show in his Shrike. He has set a high bar for everyone. Especially pilots.