Bob Hoover
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R. A. "Bob" Hoover (born c. 1922) is a former air show pilot and United States Air Force test pilot. His personal trademark is a wide-brimmed straw hat and wide smile.
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[edit] Aviation Career
Bob Hoover learned to fly at Nashville's Berry Field while working at a local grocery store to pay for the flight training. He enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard and was sent for pilot training with the Army. He was sent to Casablanca where his first major assignment of the war was test flying the assembled aircraft ready for service. He was later assigned to the Spitfire-equipped 52nd Fighter group in Sicily. After 58 successful missions, on the 59th his malfunctioning Mark V Spitfire was shot down by a Focke-Wulf 190 off the coast of Southern France in 1944 and was taken prisoner. He spent 16 months at the German prison camp Stalag Luft 1 in Barth, Germany.
He managed to escape from the prison camp, stole a FW 190 (according to his own biography), and flew to safety in the Netherlands. After the war, he was assigned to flight test duty at Wright Field. There he impressed and befriended Chuck Yeager. Hoover hoped to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, but unfortunately, a desperate bailout from an F-84 Thunderjet shattered both his legs, dashing his hopes of flying the X-1. Later when Yeager was asked who he wanted for flight crew for the supersonic Bell X-1 flight, he named Bob Hoover. Hoover was Yeager's backup pilot in the Bell X-1 program and flew chase for Yeager in a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star during the Mach 1 flight, and flew chase for the 50th anniversary in an F-16.
He left the Air Force for civilian jobs in 1948. This included test/demonstration pilot with North American Aviation where he went on bombing missions with the F-86 over Korea.
Bob Hoover has set records for transcontinental and "time to climb" speed, and has personally known such great aviators as Orville Wright, Eddie Rickenbacker, Charles Lindbergh, Jacqueline Cochran, Neil Armstrong, and Yuri Gagarin.
Bob Hoover is most well known for his air show career, which started when he was hired to demonstrate the capabilities of Aero Commander's Shrike Commander, a twin-engined piston business aircraft which had developed a rather staid reputation due to its bulky shape. Hoover showed the strength of the plane as he put the aircraft through rolls, loops, and other maneuvers which most people wouldn't associate with executive aircraft. As a grand finale, he shut down both engines and executed a loop and an eight-point hesitation slow roll as he headed back to the runway. He touched down on one tire, then the other, before landing. After pulling off the runway, he would start engines to taxi back to the parking area.
A few years after starting the show, he began carrying passengers during the show -- after all, he reasoned, the Shrike Commander carries six passengers in comfort (though perhaps not as much comfort when upside down.) These passengers became known as "Hoover's Heavers" due to the number who became airsick during the maneuvers.
With the advent of camcorders, Hoover added a flourish to the act by pouring a cup of tea from a Thermos, while performing a slow aileron roll (a 1G maneuver). Video of this has been widely distributed, to the pleasure of Aero Commander enthusiasts.
[edit] Medical Controversy
His air show aerobatics career ended over medical concerns, when his pilot's license was suspended by the Federal Aviation Administration. It later developed that two FAA officials made a pact to "get Hoover" due to his advanced age, making claims that his maneuvers during one demonstration were "erratic." Other pilots at the show testified that this was not true, but while the process dragged out, Hoover was granted a pilot's license by Australia's aviation authorities, enabling him to fly in any part of the world other than the United States.
Eventually the truth came out, and Hoover's US pilot's license was reinstated, but the damage had been done -- he was unable to get the insurance necessary to perform, due to companies' fears. Hoover continued to fly his P-51 Mustang at shows, sometimes in tight formation with Yeager, but the Shrike Commander act was over.
This episode also continues to haunt the FAA, as pilots have lost much of their trust for the agency due to the actions of those two officials.
[edit] Honors and Recognition
Bob Hoover is considered one of the founding fathers of modern aerobatics, he was described by Jimmy Doolittle as, "...the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived." In the Centennial of flight edition of the Air & Space Smithsonian, he was named the third greatest aviator in history.
During his illustrious career he was awarded the following military medals: Distinguished Flying Cross, Soldier's Medal for Valor, Air Medal with Clusters, Purple Heart and the French Croix de Guerre. He was also made an honorary member of the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, American Fighter Aces Association, Original Eagle squadron and received an Award of Merit from the American Fighter Pilots Association. In 1992, he was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor.
[edit] Hoover Nozzle and Hoover Ring
A perhaps-undesired recognition is the "Hoover Nozzle" used on jet-fuel pumps. The Hoover Nozzle is designed with a flattened bell shape. The Hoover Nozzle cannot be inserted in the filler neck of a plane with the "Hoover Ring" installed, thus preventing the tank from accidently being filled with jet fuel.
This system was given this name following an accident in which Hoover was seriously injured, when both engines on his Shrike Commander failed during takeoff. Investigators found that the plane had just been fueled by a line boy who mistook the piston-engine Shrike for a similar turboprop model, filling the tanks with jet fuel instead of avgas (aviation gasoline). There was enough avgas in the fuel system to taxi to the runway and takeoff, but then the jet fuel was drawn into the engines, causing them to die.
Once Hoover recovered, he widely promoted the use of the new type of nozzle (now required by Federal regulation on jet fuel pumps) and called on pilots to install the restricting rings on their planes.
