Legendary Bob Hoover in his Air Show suit and hat – landing with dead engines on one wheel.
JUST IN!*
“A Celebration of Life”
October 31, 2016
Bob Hoover Celebration of Life
A celebration of Bob Hoover’s life will take place on Friday, November 18, 2016 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT at Clay Lacy Aviation, 7435 Valjean Avenue, at the Van Nuys Airport in California.
Organizers expect a strong response from people interested in attending this event and attendance will be limited. An RSVP is requested and strongly encouraged at https://bobhoover.eventbrite.com by Thursday, November 10.
Sean D. Tucker and Danny Clisham will serve as the master of ceremonies – and the event will culminate with a series of flyovers and a missing-man formation to honor Hoover.
The organizers would like to thank Joe Clark, Dan Drohan, David Ellison, Harrison Ford, Tracy Forrest, Mike Herman, Lynn Krogh, Terry Lutz, Dallas Price, David Price, Bill Fanning and Bob Wilson for their generous contributions to begin to cover the expenses of this event and welcome any additional support.
If you have any special contributions for this event, please reach out to Kim Furst or Karl Koeppen at bobhooverevent@gmail.com.
Thank you,
Kim Furst
Producer/Director
Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project
The aviation world, in fact the world at large, has lost a great pioneer, a uniquely brave and skilled aviator – – – and outstanding human being.
A younger Bob Hoover climbing into the cockpit of a North American F-100 Sabre Fighter in the mid 1950’s
Bob Hoover, is the famous World War II fighter pilot who so uniquely escaped a NAZI POW and then managed to fly to freedom after stealing a German Focke Wulf 190 fighter (seen at left below) from right under the Nazi’s noses.
German WWII Fighter, the Focke Wulf 190 stolen by escaped prisoner Bob Hoover
This astounding aviator then went on to spend decades testing aircraft, thrilling spectators at air shows and training military aviators. He died Oct. 25 at a hospital in Torrance, Calif. He was 94. His daughter-in-law, Lynn Hoover, said the cause was congestive heart failure. Your webmaster was both privileged and thrilled to have seen Mr. Hoover perform at two air shows – taking airplanes built for general transportation cruising through extreme aerobatic maneuvers, stunts for which they were never designed.
Cartoon of Hoover’s Famous Dead-Engines One Wheel Landings
DVD Cover of Movie about Hoover’s life and exploits
Who else but this almost life-long pilot could escape a Nazi prison and then jump into a fighter about which he knew little and had never even seen up close; get it started and successfully airborne – – – and then manage to safely land the high performance ship on Allied ground – – – keep in mind that Bob didn’t read German, which might have helped him read the airplane’s instruments.
Bob in his Air Show flight suit.
Aviation News scouts Virg Hemphill of El Paso, TX and Hal Haley of San Diego made sure we didn’t miss this story when it happened, so we thank them for their heads up. Here are some of the fine stories about Mr. Hoover along with several trailers for the film made about his life and astounding exploits:
AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association)
EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association)
Bob by North American Aviation’s T-28 – a plane your Webmaster Flew during USAF Training
Photo of Bob during his extreme Air Show Aerobatics in his Aero Commander Executive Twin
Old Air Force buddies – Both World Class Test Pilots: Chuck Yeager on Left and Bob Hoover on Right
Bob and Coleen Hoover at 2003 Society of Experimental Test Pilots Annual Symposium
Bob dressed for flight in his F-51 Mustang Fighter
Hoover stands next to his North American Rockwell Aero Commander Business Liner
And here are two short trailers for the fine film about Bob Hoover’s life and extraordinary exploits – the first is 4:30 long and the second but 2:47:
* Thanks to FASF Aviation News Scout Virg Hemphill.
What a wonderful tribute to a wonderful man!