Bob Hoover’s speed record

This cartoon is dedicated to one of our aviation idols, the legendary Bob Hoover who left us in October 2016 at the age of 94 which is no small feat if you read up on all the crazy stuff this guy has done in his life. I believe that anyone who has ever been interested in aviation history will know this iconic figure of aviation. We saw him at AirVenture once but didn’t get to talk to him because he was surrounded by too many people. I really wish we would have been able to talk to him.

Growing up reading about aviation what I remember most were the rolls he did while pouring tee and his demonstrations of energy when he took the Commander up for aerobatics all while having his engines in the “OFF” mode. And of course the yellow Mustang was no eyesore either. If you have never heard of Bob Hoover, I highly recommend you google his name and look at some videos.It wasn’t until later (thanks to the invention of wikipedia) that I found out he was a highly decorated war hero as well.
As these legends from the pioneer days of aviation disappear, there are less and less figures we can all look up to following in their footsteps. It currently feels like almost everything has already been done or tried before and drone flying doesn’t breed aviation aces as much as the initial supersonic flying and moon-landing did. But maybe we’ll have some exciting Mars missions soon or something of that nature.

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5 comments on “Bob Hoover’s speed record
  1. Bernd says:

    One of the stories surrounding Bob Hooverwas that he initially took up aerobatic lessons because he was getting sick when flying. After a while his stomach got used to quickly shifting gravity vectors and he went on to be become one of the greatest, but never cutting it too close and always leaving some room for error.

  2. Major Matt Mason says:

    Had the pleasure of catching Mr. Hoover’s Commander act at the Atlantic City Air Show some decades ago. He is missed.

  3. Tampa says:

    His engine-out aerobatics are the stuff of legends!

  4. jan olieslagers says:

    Not wishing to say anything about Mr. Hoover, neither good nor bad, I never met or saw him though I have heard of him of course. But the most impressive flying I ever saw was aerobatics by an unnamed pilot flying an open cockpit vintage glider. Must have been in Pribram, May 2010. No names, no person cult, just impressive airmanship.

  5. Johsua says:

    @Bernd actually, he was self taught aerobatic pilot. He was simply making himself uncomfortable to get over the air sickness. The aerobatics where not intentional.

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