Bob Hoover Accomplishments

What would you do if your role model described you as “the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever live, the first pilot to fly and land an airplane using tools only”? General James “Jimmy” Doolittle who said that about another aviation legend, Bob Hoover, who stated: “Jimmy Doolittle was my idol, I wanted to be just like him”. The fact that his own idol said that about him is enough to make him a legend. Nevertheless, with his continuous handwork, daring personality, and extraordinary skills, he became a hero that every pilot looks up to and wishes to learn from him. He was a fighter pilot in World War II and in the Korean War. He exceeded in testing aircrafts, his passion and joy were flowing every time he took off but he was the most disappointed if he did not get

“Bob” Hoover was born on the 24th of January 1922 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the youngest of the three children of Leroy and Bessie. He was a test pilot, an air show pilot, and a fighter pilot. He had flown up to 300 aircrafts but he left the strongest impression on people when he flew the two-engine Shrike Commander in 1986 and the P-51 Mustang (“Ole Yeller”) in which he had his best shows flying it. Regarding this, he first purchased the shrike commander in 1979, and showed his exceptional talent by demonstrating sixteen-point rolls and loops followed by a clean no engine maneuver with a loop and another roll. He also ended the show by landing one wheel first and then the other and finally taxied the craft back to its parking spot. It was an astonishing performance for everyone watching. As for the “Ole Yeller”, Hoover performed more than 1000 shows around the country with it and even though he sold it to his good friend the founder of the Legacy Flight Museum, John Bagley, after his last and one of his best air shows in 1996, the yellow Mustang still performs at airshows just as if it was new whereas the Shrike Commander was donated to the United States National Air and Space