Bob Hoover -- Legend of Aviation

[speedierfiber]

You Sir, are my hero



[tailwheelflier]

Todays generation are lost because they call hollywood actors on the left coast heros. They call drug addicted homo rockstars heros. They call steriod injecting millionaire sport stars heros. Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager, Gideon Jones, Charlie Smith, Charles Manning, REAL AMERICAN HEROS!

[shesperfect469]

How many hours would he have I wonder..

[DickLodge68]

AWESOME! I had the pleasure of meeting this man in 1985 I believe. I remember at the time, as I do now....this man is a living legend! Very well dressed and cordial.....I found Hoover to be a very respectable man and easy to talk with. He is a true American hero and I wish I had more time with him!

[leroymoorejr]

WOW! AWESOME! A TRUE AMERICAN HERO!!!

[kaysandesses]

The video description reads that Bob Hoover is a "John Wayne type of hero". I have to disagree: A more accurate description would be "John Wayne, the actor, played a Bob Hoover type of hero." John Wayne played heroes on the big screen, Bob Hoover and his cohorts are real life heroes.

[fractalbeliever]

I once had the blessed opportunity to chat with Mr. Hoover at an FBO lobby--before his post-airshow trip back home. I asked him: "If you could summarize all of your flying experience in three points, what would it be?"

He looked at me with a gaze that could have frozen a lake.

He answered: 1) "Know your limitations; 2) Know the limitations of your airplane; and 3) Never exceed either one."

I felt like the kid in the old "Mean Joe Green" Pepsi commercial.

Thanks Mr. Hoover.

[carnut476]

Perhaps, Had he been born north of the Mason/ Dixion line he might of walked on the moon ?

[kaysandesses]

@carnut476 He mentions in his book "Forever Flying" that he wasn't very interested in the astronaut program because they were essentially "along for the ride", and had little control over their craft.

[carnut476]

@kaysandesses Thanks, I didn't know

[kaysandesses]

@carnut476 No problem. If you haven't read the book grab one up. It reads like you're sitting in a room with him and he's spinning his yarns. 

[Malibucompany]

I was at the 2and flight of Space Ship one in Mojave. I had the rare privlage of experienceing this with Bob Hoover . Spent the day with him. He is one of the most wonderful souls ever to walk the earth. Spending that day with him and seeing the first commercial space flight has changed me forever.

[ajp197]

Watched him perform at two different shows at Oshkosh in mid to late 70's, not sure of the year but he flew the Commander and the Mustang. I remember the straw hat and the reaction of the crowd to his performance. It was amazing and I have never seen it surpassed and doubt I ever will. So incredibly smooth with his flying and how he lived his life. Someone as kids that we all admired. What a great and amazing life that inspired so many such as me.

[stfergus608]

as a 29 year old man i will honestly say this brought a tear to my eye. i will think of this man everytime i power up hit v1 and rotate.

[frogeye3000]

Probably the greatest Talent Aviation has ever seen.

Nobody "feels" the air under his wings like Bob Hoover.

Thanks for putting this on!

[22rivercitymama]

How could any fool dislike this video and yet I see there are two? This man is a true patriot and hero and one of the most humble people I have ever seen. God bless you, Bob Hoover, as God has blessed us by your service for our country.

[ssmithey1]

I Have Admired Bob Hoover For Quite Some Time , I Have Several Items Signed By Him .

He Is Very Smooth With His Flying And Seen Him Perform Many Times . He Did Inspire Me To Purchase The 680 Twin Commander That I Have Now . It Is A Great Airplane And Will Haul Quite A Load !!

LarryCommander680

[snappin360]

Aerobatic master!

[aerobatic500]

I wish he was my grandpa. I could just imagine all the aviation stories he has to tell.

[TheOneHoudini]

This man inspired me to chase a dream i never thought i could achieve. If it wasn't for him being such an inspiration, I wouldn't be in the position I am today.... Yet i still can't stick that 8 point hesitation roll...

[MrAviator81]

Bob Hoover is the Chuck Norris of Aviation!!!!

[gertnood]

@MrAviator81 to put things in the right perspective I'd say Chuck Norris might be the Bob Hoover of movie martial arts.

[Louisthefish23]

he'll earn a knight hood in the UK

[georgebirley89]

The guy is still wearing aviator glasses!

[jrobjer]

Great stories from a legendary figure. Thanks for posting!

[poskyflyer]

this man, along with my grandfather is the reason fly

[BrotherBloat]

what an incredible legend!!!!

[TakeDeadAim]

I've met Mr. Hoover many times at Oshkosh...He is a kind, and humble man. As a pilot myself I'm in awe of his skill, and jealous of his opprotunities to fly so many different A/C. In this world where the lable "Hero" is so flippantly thrown out there...here is one man who absolutely, truly deserves the title.



[schlusselmensch]

IMHO the greatest F1 driver might be one that retired alive?

[sorted0blud]

@schlusselmensch - I'm assuming that comment was directed at mine. IMHO Senna did not necessarily retire. He died. Its not like he had the choice to continue his career. So its unfair really not to consider him the best F1 driver just because he was in some horrific accident where his car hits a concrete wall at 135 MPH isn't it?

[schlusselmensch]

@sorted0blud Sorry, I tend to agree with Henry. Moss at the top of the living and among the dead guys, Jimmy Clark.

[schlusselmensch]

@sorted0blud As well, Mr. Hoover hasn't made a mistake that killed him. Regretably, the same cannot be said for Mr. Senna.

[sorted0blud]

Okay thank you sir, you have made your point very clear now. I tried to end this debate over a week ago about a simple reference i made about 4 months ago to some of the greatest personalities that lived/alive. Yes Senna is dead and you may not consider him the best as your previous comment may suggest. If that's your opinion then fine but me and the other 2 people who liked my comment think otherwise. Senna did not make a "mistake". The crash was due steering column failure. Hardly a "mistake"

[schlusselmensch]

@sorted0blud There never was a finding as to cause and there was complete acquittal in court, as I recall. My personal opinion is that he dealt his car more thrashing that it could take.

[imikewillrockyou]

A great American. God bless Bob Hoover.

[airplanedriver1]

Now that's the best combination between a good person and a superb pilot.

I wish I could be 1/100th. of he pilot he is.

[sorted0blud]

Mohammed Ali greatest boxer, Pele greatest fooballer, Ayrton senna greatest F1 driver and in the same league Bob Hoover the greatest ever pilot...

[twinstu50]

@sorted0blud

I beg to differ.

Bob Hoover is a PILOT.

The others are not.

[sorted0blud]

@twinstu50 -Yes, i do know that. My point was Hoover is the greatest in his profession (PILOT) as the others are in their own respects.

[TDSkating]

why cant he be my grandpa :) i want to be a aerobatics pilot. im 12 and i fly a mooney 175k

[davida41200]

when is there a film gona be made about Bob? or is there already one out? what a hero!

[BertAtHome]

Great tribute to a great pilot...

[MrCapi55]

Definitivamente maravilloso. Éste video, me vino a enseñar dos cosas importantísimas; 1. El cómo se sobrepuso a la adversidad, pues se mareaba en las lecciones de vuelo iniciales que recibió. 2. Que fué autodidacta en su aprendizaje de maniobrras acrobáticas.

Ésto me llena de ánimo al darme cuenta de todo lo que podemos las personas cuando nos impulsa la determinación por alguna actividad que amamos.

Gracias.

[ancientpelican]

Mr. Hoover is a true gentleman aviator. I met him at an airshow years ago and he signed his book for me. I remember he seemed to take an honest interest the sort of flying I was doing at the time. Not many legends would extend that respect to a lowly Dash 8 pilot.

[TallShipMaster]

I think Hoover and Yeager are the only living examples of the exception to the rule, "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots"

[schlusselmensch]

Well I think "bold" is often "did something stupid but had a bagful of skill to pull the fat out of the fire". Other times, of course, you just had to do what you had to do. And then there's guys and gals who are just so goddamned good, they make you sick LOL. But I assure you there are many more than two old bold pilots. Rudi Opitz comes to mind and Alex Henshaw (his books are worth the money) certainly. Too bad so little footage of Alex exists, his displays beggared belief, I've been told.

[johnscck]

What an incredible guy. I've seen him doing his Commander routine many times at Oshkosh. He flys better single engine or no engine than most pilots fly with both engines.

[armandoe10]

The magician

[jack3408]

Great footage of Bob, I first saw Bob at the Reno Air Races in 1968 flying his Mustang as the pace plane and doing his signature roll on takeoff at 50 ft agl with SO. Later doing aerobatics in his Mustang,T28, Saberliner, F86, and of coarse the Shrike, all amazing shows. Bob is truely a part of all the planes he flew. Does anyone have any footage of Bob's aerobatics in the Mustang?

Thankyou R.A. Hoover for being such an inspiration to so many pilots.

[skrape110]

this video SHOULD be called

Bob Hoover -- God

[Boeing1123]

I think he was in the movie One Six Right

[Bagels108]

I wish I could meet him.

[pilot1115]

bob hoover best pilot ever

[spiritofattack]

When I was in pilot training in 1957, I watched in awe as Bob Hoover put on a flying demonstration in his bi-wing plane. I took 8mm movies of it, and still have them somewhere. I didn't know that he was the backup pilot for the X-1 first supersonic flight that Chuck Yeager flew - with a broken hand - that should have been Bob Hoover's flight!

[John19182004]

Yeager didn't have a broken hand. BOY ARE YOU STUPID> would a little research be so hard to do?? Yeager had broken ribs you dumbfuck schmuck.

[tigerpilot32]

Nice video. Hard to capture the life of this man in 7 or 8 minutes though.

I've seen Bob Hoover numerous times at Oshkosh. Normally I use the airshow time to visit various vendors, but I'm always on the flight line when Bob is performing.

He is a true gentleman in everything he does. Thanks for the video.

[metoo129]

I have been following the career of Bob Hoover for at lest 45 years.. This gentleman can do things with an airplane no one else can do. He was know for doing loops and rolls with a glass of water sitting on the top of the instrument panel. Of course, he never spilled a drop of water, evn when inverted!

An admirer >> BobT

[powerj737]

RA Bob Hoover is the master airman. What a great history and a great gentleman!

[deltafan909]

The King of Aviation may not be forgotten. Bob Hoover. Well done sir.

[mrbillybronko]

A true modern aviation pioneer. I was privileged to watch him perform at Oshkosh in 1999. Probably the greatest altitude/airspeed/bank control pilot ever. A man worth listening too.

[James1toknow]

It was a pleasure listening to this man talk I shall never forget him now.

[CombatSIMFanatic]

Whoa! Where can I get this?!? I went to your website and do not see it for sale?!?

This is a must!

[vladtepic]

I can remember meeting him thru my ex father in law Charley Selge at Oshkoch Wisconsin.

[asnodgra]

Norm Crabtree was my Godfather and because of that, got to see MANY airshows!! LOL. Bob Hoover was the best. I loved the Shrike shutdown show. Too bad they didn't post my dad's video of Hoover landing at Marysville, Ohio airshow in the 1980's in the yellow Rockwell P-51 with the wing on fire. Called for dry chemical, landed it and moved it over to grass and popped the canopy and got out like it was any other day. Truly amazing. Oh and by the way, he flew his Shrike show later that day!

[Tailspint]

I was there that day, listening on a hand held. Heard him say, "Oh-oh, we've got a problem here." "What's going on/" "I may not make it back." I ran and alerted to local volunteer fireman—but they didn't believe me until on short final the stream of smoke turned into a ball of fire. Pinhole fuel leak in wheel ignited when he retracted gear after a dirty pass. Rockwell sent a new wing, and a fews later he was flying again.

[asnodgra]

My dad was on a handheld too. He called in to his announcer that he was going behind the trees. He called back in saying 'roll dry chemical'. Landed and put it in grass. Rockwell also flew a mechanic up from Texas to fix the wing. Dad has most of it on camera.

[Twister051]

As funny as it sounds, the first time I met Mr. Hoover I was washing my hands after using the restroom in a hotel in Oshkosh, WI and this old, tall, thin guy walked in, said hello to me as I stood at the sinks and then he turned around and started using the urinal. I started to laugh because I realized I'd just met one of the greatest pilots to ever breathe!

After we were both done taking care of business and outside the bathroom I shook his hand and we took a picture together.

NICE guy!

[Onirot69]

Bob Hoover is truly one of the best. I have seen him at several airshows and his performance is amazing. He is an example of a dying breed of pilot, one who understands the very essence of flight and uses common sense basics. His films are still used in flight schools across the nation. An amazing individual with lots of knowledge to impart!!!

[Krastonscott]

Excellent documentary on Bob Hoover. Films like this need to be shown in all of our public grade schools. Makes me proud to be an American and a retired Air Force member. Kraston...Bellevue Nebraska

[topilot]

No other legend pilot shows more class and ability than Bob Hoover. I had the pleasure of sitting down and having a drink with him and several other legend pilots in the early 70's at the Detroit City Airport. I had a flight school and FBO on the airport at the time. This guy never showed any high minded ego and was always friendly to any person who wanted to shake his hand. Bravo on this documentary!

[mrfifer]

I saw Mr Hoover when I was a small boy at Kirtland AFB in Albq. NM and he flew his yellow P51 . It was the most lasting aircraft memory of my life!

The Skill and The Sound were indescribable!

Mike Fifer

[maxsmodels]

Super cool. Always the gentleman.

[b1cc2]

Thanks for this, I was wondering if he was still around. When did he completely retire from airshow flying? I know there wee several comebacks.

[Tomcat8158]

What a man !!! My favorite pilot

[jinhoove]

bob hoover - can´t find the right word to describe his flying talents... he just did it ! he WAS a BIRDMAN