EAA’s own laboriously restored WWII Flying Fortress Bomber, “The Aluminum Overcast,” captured in Flight.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) of Oshkosh, WI sends their restored Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Bomber around the U.S. to both inspire Americans to explore the great adventure of flying, but also to help them more fully appreciate their own unique history, particularly the years of WWII, during which we fought for our very survival as a nation.

The Flying Fortress is almost surprisingly not a large airplane, but its reputation helped make it seem much larger than it really was (is!).  It is the American bomber that played a huge role in helping to turn the tide against the Axis powers in Europe, by “softening up” the Germans (and the Italians) for the D Day invasion.  Its upgraded and much larger Boeing version, the B29 Super Fortress, is the aircraft which delivered the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan, finally ending the war in the Pacific.

Although a legendary airplane in the European theater, it was also a major player in the Pacific against the Imperial Japanese forces, as well.  We are posting an interesting story about a Japanese downed B-17 right here on this website, in addition to this video.  We’ve also already posted other B-17 stories in these pages over the years.  The Flying Fortress became famous after the war, also, when it was the featured flying machine in such highly popular Hollywood films as “12 O’Clock High,” “Fortress”, “Memphis Belle,” and “Flying Fortress.”

The famous and highly acclaimed Memphis Belle in flight – 2:00 Minutes in length

Memphis Belle takes WWII B-17 Air Force Crew Member Bill Yepes aloft – 70 years later: 6 Min. long

The EAA Chapters 555 of Las Cruces, and 1570, of Santa Teresa NM, were both honored to be able to work with the International EAA in helping introduce this historic Air Corps aircraft to the people of their respective and neighboring communities during January 2017.  While the local weather did anything but cooperate at both locations, the display and exhibition project was still quite successful, with many hundreds of visitors attending, and some even going aloft in the bomber at both events.  The FASF has a number of active members in both the EAA Chapters, and some both volunteered their time to help this B-17 exhibition and/or made sure to attend the events at both locations.

Here is a quickly spliced together video recording of the final day of the display, held at the Santa Teresa, NM Jet Port.  It is 24 minutes long, which is admittedly too long, but your webmaster is only beginning to get the gist of video editing, so expect a much briefer version of this longer video shortly.

A number of active FASF members either attended or volunteered to help make the exhibition and flight a success:  Tomas Peralta, who owns and manages the RED ARROW FLIGHT ACADEMY at Santa Teresa, directed the entire B-17 exposition, and two of his instructor pilots, Jim Foster and Debbie Rothschild, were very active in making the program a success.  RED ARROW is a proud business sponsor of the FASF. Also pitching in were FASF Business members Bob Dockendorf and George Guerra, who keep the great War Eagles Air Museum alive and well.

When the shorter video is posted here soon, we may also have some video footage of the actual flying experiences and views taken by some of our members, who shot their own in flight video.

Also actively volunteering in this “Aluminum Overcast” operation at the Jet Port were other members of the FASF, as well:  Col. John Orton (long time FASF Board Member and Advisor) was a key volunteer, and FASF activist member, John Read (Chief Park Ranger at the Columbus, NM Pancho Villa State Park), his wife, Ellie, and John’s Mother, also made the journey to take part in the Flying Fortress adventure.

13 Minute video of B-17G public demonstration event held at Sta. Teresa Jet Port January 22

Make sure and visit the companion post, THE SWAMP GHOST, which is about a recovered B-17, one shot down over New Guinea in the South Pacific during WWII, that was recently returned to the U.S. and is now undergoing its own restoration.

Here are some interesting facts about this famous American Flying Fortress Plane:

• First built by Boeing in 1935 – as the most advanced heavy bomber of its day
• Most used for carpet bombing during daylight over Europe (23,000 B17 Airmen lost)
• 12,731 Fortress’ made by Boeing, Douglas, and Vega (Lockheed) during WWII
• 1/3 of those were lost during WWII (4,750!)
• The Fortress was U.S. bomber most flown by the WASP (Women Air Service Pilots)
• Cruised at 150 MPH and had top speed of 287 MPH
• At full load (9,600 lbs), it had a range of 2,000 miles
• Powered by four Curtiss-Wright R-182-Whirlwind Engines of 1,200 HP each
• The Memphis Belle and her crew flew all over the U.S. during War to sell Bonds
• B-17C model used by the Royal Air Force of GB in first combat in April 1942
• Early models had many problems and the British were not happy with it
• The most improvement came with the model B-17E, which had the iconic big tail
• Had a crew of 10 and had 10 50 Caliber Machine Guns – 13 machine guns in all
• Carried 19,000 lbs of bombs in its Bomb Bay
• Was equipped with the famous and highly secret Norden Precision bombsight
• Its landing gear was the ‘old fashioned’ tail wheeled configuration
• It was not pressurized, causing many crew member fatalities from anoxia
• It’s ability to continue flying after massive air frame damage made it an icon

DATELINE: November 25, 2016 – BBC and other International News Services

This lead video is 6:10 in length.  Remember to turn up your volume.

Below is one of the short (1:24) videos of the event in progress [Negligible Audio in this]:

The following :45 video slide show pictures some of the Vintage Airplanes over African Route.  There is no sound with this short montage show below.

A group of international pilots taking part in a vintage plane rally have just landed in Kenya after being freed from detention in Ethiopia, organizers report.

About 20 aircraft had been impounded at the airport in Gambela, western Ethiopia, after crossing “illegally” into the country from Sudan.

But the aviators, on a mission to travel the length of Africa, resumed their journey on Thursday.

Two of the racing aircraft approach the famous Victoria Falls, seen to the right of the red and white biplane with mist rising into the air . . .

One of the released pilots failed to arrive at the destination.

Three old biplanes of Rally Flying above Africa’s majestic  Victoria Falls . . .

Africa Live: More on this and other BBC stories

British pilot Maurice Kirk, 72, had already been reported missing once but was later found to be among the pilots detained in Ethiopia.

In a Facebook post, Vintage Air Rally said: “For the second time in two flights, Maurice is a no show. We have launched (again) an overdue aircraft process (now Kenyan rather than Ethiopian).”

One of the Vintage Race Planes taxiing near the Giza Pyramids in Egypt November 12, 2016 – Can any of you FASF site visitors identify the planes – both above and below?

Vintage Air Rally spokesman Jeremy Martin told the BBC that Mr Kirk was “officially off the rally but since we know he’s out there we can’t leave him”.

All  five photos above show some of the vintage airplanes taking place in this rally. Can you identify any of them?

Diplomatic efforts

The head of Ethiopia’s civil aviation authority, Wosenyele Hungnall, told the BBC that the aircraft had crossed illegally into Ethiopian airspace from Sudan.

Ethiopia is currently under a state of emergency following a recent upsurge in violent attacks, and there is a military presence in Gambela because of tensions with neighboring South Sudan.

The rally was suspended while diplomats tried to secure the release of the pilots and crews.

On Thursday, Vintage Air Rally management said the pilots were free to continue their journey to South Africa.

Participants, from 13 different countries, are attempting to cover 13,000km (8,000 miles) using biplanes built between the 1920s and 1940s, and support aircraft.

Donald J. Trump’s Private Air Force One Corporate Jet.  A Documentary  from early 2016

                     Donald J. Trump’s Boeing 757-200 Corporate Jet, which he affectionately calls his “T-Bird“

In light of the fact that our new President will be exceptionally experienced in General Aviation and aviation at large, we thought it might be appropriate to take a look at Mr. Trump’s now familiar large corporate Jet, his $100,000,000 private Boeing 757-200.  Although the President-Elect may no longer travel in his beloved 757 once in the White House, but rather the much larger 747 Air Force One, a peek into Mr. Trump’s 757 typical operation, in the videos that follow, might tell us something about his outlook towards the entire aviation industry, including General Aviation.

Keep in mind, also, that, in addition to his being a very active user of General Aviation by way of his private fleet of two helicopters and two corporate jets, the President-Elect once also owned his own Airline, the former Eastern Airline Shuttle, which became Trump Shuttle, once he had acquired it.  While Mr. Trump’s 757 is costly to fly, at about $15,000 per hour, Air Force One, on the other hand, makes that expense seem almost meager, since it costs almost $206,000 per flight hour to operate the much larger two-deck Boeing 747.

While it is certainly far too early to make any meaningful predictions on what sort of effect Mr. Trump’s change of address may have on General Aviation, he has made it clear that he intends to do all he can to make our military as strong as it once was.  This may mean that he intends to put an end to the Sequestration program that has so significantly cut into all branches of the service, particularly noticeable insofar as it severely curtailed participation in such traditional public aviation activities as Air Shows by both the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy’s Blue Angels exhibition teams.

In the meantime, let’s move one to the topic at hand, Mr. Trump’s now famous Boeing 757 private jet airliner.

John Dunkin is Captain and Chief Pilot of the Trump Boeing 757-200 Corporate Jet.  Mr. Dunkin has been flying for Mr. Trump since 1989.  His father, a military pilot, began teaching John to fly at only 15.  He could actually fly before he could drive.  John’s current job is far from comparable to that of one of today’s talented airline pilots, because his duties include far more than just piloting the aircraft, and this following second and longer video will make that fact clear.  John’s second in command, or co-pilot, is Larry Brian.

In a commercial configuration the Trump Boeing could carry as many as 239 passengers, if it were filled with economy seats, but there’s nothing “economy” about this ship.

Trump’s 757 is designed to carry only 43 luxury passengers secured with 24 carat gold plated seat belts, according to the video tour of the aircraft (the first and shorter video below) his company posted online in 2011. It features a dining room, big screen TVs, a master and a guest bedroom and even a shower.

“Everything that they did on it is very spectacular,” observed Dunkin during the filming of the Smithsonian Channel’s “Mighty Planes.” “It’s a very fast airplane for such a large craft and is extremely comfortable. It takes turbulence very well. It’s kind of like the Ferrari, but in the airline category of airplanes.”

757s have a top speed of 609 miles an hour can fly up to 4,400 miles without stopping, according to Boeing. It is nearly 125 feet wide (wing tip to wing tip) and more than 155 feet long.  It weighs in at 255,000 pounds or 127 Tons.

Donald J. Trump has a net worth of anywhere from $4,000,000,000 to $10,000,000,000, depending on fluctuating real estate and other investment valuations. His Boeing 757 is part of his air fleet, which also includes a Cessna Citation X jet and three Sikorsky Jet S-76B helicopters. Take flight on one of the most luxurious private jets in the world by viewing the second video below . . . and one of the biggest of all corporate jets. Trump’s Boeing 757 is three times the size of the average private jet – and much faster.

Tour of Trump’s 757 [3:31 Long] The Apprentice’s Amanda Miller gives a tour of Mr. Trump’s 757.

Now, if you have the time and interest, here, below, is a 45:52 Long Video about this now famous Trump “T Bird” Corporate Jet:

Published on Mar 20, 2016

Photo courtesy of Kevin Porter, who took this shot of N1662 in 2014.

We just lost American Aviation Great Bob Hoover, and now we have lost another American Aviation Giant, Ron Alexander, active member of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA)  VAA (Vintage Aircraft Association) Board. He and his passenger, an FAA official, were killed in Ron’s vintage Jenny JN-4D: (Shown above in photo by Kevin Porter), the same plane developed and perfected here in Columbus, NM a century ago during the Punitive Expedition’s 1st use of an American military airplane in a sustained combat environment.

The airplane, FAA number N1662, has been featured before on this FASF site’s pages.  The fiery accident occurred near Mr. Alexander’s own Peach State Aerodrome, Williamson, GA shortly after Mr. Alexander took off in the Jenny.  The pilot’s Candler Museum is one of the few existing that are exclusively dedicated to vintage airplanes. One of its featured aircraft was the same N1662 Jenny involved in Thursday’s crash.

Immediately below is a short (50 second) video of this same Jenny landing at Peach State:

Other news stories about this tragedy, which include more detail, may be found by clicking on the following links:

AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association).

Kathryn’s Report.

The Herald-Gazette.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Alexander family and to the many, many aviation enthusiasts and others who were privileged to have known this “Quiet Giant of Aviation.”

This story came to us from FASF Aviation News Scout Jerry Dixon (Retired USMC Pilot) of El Paso, TX.

It can be found on the website “B-29’s Over Korea” and was authored by Wayland Mayo.

The two short videos below provide some more visual background to this strange tale.  The B-29 was the most expensive weapon of WWII – more costly than even the Atomic Bomb, and it was this Superfortress B-29 that was used to drop the first two bombs on Japan, which bombings caused the Japanese to surrender – ending the long and devastating world war.

The following video about the B-29/TU-4 story is only 1:43 long, but the second slightly longer video (4:03), also below, pretty much gives a more complete story . . .

Russian B-29 Clone — The TU-4 Story by Wayland Mayo

INTRODUCTION Probably the most significant development in aviation history is one which most Americans don’t even know happened. We worked hard to get our B-29 built so we could reach Japan, the retaliation that President Roosevelt so badly wanted. The Russians also wanted and badly needed a long range bomber as much as we did. The difference is, we engineered ours with ingenuity and perseverance, the Russians stole it. Read this fascinating story and you will find it hard to believe, but it actually happened. The B-29 is now as much a part of Russian aviation history as it is to American aviation history. RUSSIAN B-29 CLONE:  THE TU-4 STORY After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt had a burning desire to retaliate by bombing Japan. This soon became an obsession with him, but how were we going to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat? The only long range bomber in our arsenal was the B-17, and the idea of reaching Japan became increasingly remote. We needed a Super Bomber, but did not even have one on the drawing board. Roosevelt fortunately had a solution to his problem, with time almost ruling out such an undertaking. His solution was Gen. H.H. Arnold, better known as “HAP”. Gen. Arnold was already pushing for a more sophisticated Air Force with long range capability. He sent a request to all the aircraft companies seeking designs for a Super Bomber. Boeing had been working on such a design and won the contract. They were to deliver two flying prototypes by 1942. It was to be the fastest, largest, heaviest plane ever mass produced. The U.S. ordered 250 sight unseen. Then Germany attacked Russia. The number was increased to 500 planes. On Sept. 21st, 1942, the Boeing XB flew out of the Seattle plant. This three billion dollar gamble was the largest government commitment ever to a single project, including the Atomic Bomb. There were residual benefits to this contract. It brought the country together. Boeing had four assembly plants, and hundreds of smaller plants making sub-assemblies. Finally in 1943 the first production model B-29 rolled out of the Wichita plant. Eventually over 4000 were produced, 1600 at the Wichita plant which employed 26,000 workers working seven days a week. The first bombers were sent to the CBI area (China, Burma, India). Gen. Arnold realized we needed a place for damaged planes to land after bombing Japan. Roosevelt asked Stalin for permission to land in Siberia or Russia. Stalin evaded answering the request. Russia was not at war with Japan, and had their hands full fighting the Germans. They did not want to open up another front by taking on Japan. Our crews were told that after bombing Japan, only in an extreme emergency, to land in Vladivostok, Russia. On August 20, 1944, a B-29 was forced to divert to the Soviet Union. It crashed east of Khabarovsk after the crew baled out. The crew was interned in Russia. The U.S. made version of the B-29 About the same time three B-29’s with emergencies landed in Vladivostok. One of the planes was the “Ramp Tramp”, another was the “Ding Hao”. Ironically the third plane was completely intact was the Gen. H.H. Arnold Special! The crews assumed the planes would be refueled and they would return to China. They were never to see their planes again. The crews and aircraft were all interned. Now the Russians were holding four crews and three complete B-29’s. Desperate negotiations by the U.S. for the release of the crews and the aircraft were ignored. Stalin was continually pressured for the release of the crews and planes, however it soon became obvious that he had no intentions of giving them up. He decided to steal them. He figured it would take over five years to design and build their own much needed long range bomber. A better way would be to steal these already in his possession and make a bolt for bolt exact copy of them. Stalin demanded the reproductions be ready in two years. The entire Soviet aircraft industry was mobilized to meet this seemingly impossible deadline. At that time any dissension was met with punishment, even death. That would be considered sabotage to question a project. This project received top priority. The Russians were completely dumbfounded when faced with the enormity of the situation. They were fascinated with the gigantic “Silver Bullet”. What better luck than to have three of them dropped right in their back yard. Finally through some bizarre diplomatic negotiations between the US and Molotov it was arranged for the aircrews to “escape” to Tashkent, Russia, via the Trans-Siberian Railroad. They were given adequate treatment while interned. From Tashkent they were transported by train and truck to Tehran, Iran, for their release. However their release wasn’t going to be that simple. They were warned not to talk to anyone, and had to sign top secret documents swearing them to secrecy. They were flown to Naples, Italy, and then shipped to N.Y. where they finally found freedom. The Russian plan was to organize the best pilots, technicians, engineers, and aviation specialist to measure and catalog each of the 105,000 parts of the B-29. They decided to completely disassemble the Hap Arnold Special and use it for measurements. The Ding Hao would serve as a reference model, and the Ramp Tramp would be used for pilot training. Russian pilots would have a hard time figuring out the significance of the instruments, so their top pilot, fluent in English, labeled every instrument in Russian so their pilots could easily identify everything required to fly the B-29. The Russians were amazed at the quality of the workmanship and the technology involved in the manufacture of the B-29. The Soviet version would be called the TU-4, NATO code name “BULL”. After the Hap Arnold Special was completely dismantled they immediately realized the almost impossible task of “reverse engineering” the aircraft. It has been reported the Russians only had slide rules and even some used an abacus. All measurements had to be converted to metric sizes. Now they were running into major problems. Imagine the complexity of copying the giant R-3350 engine. They were not able to manufacture the wing fuel tanks. The compound curves of the plexiglass nose presented an unsolved problem, and pilots complained about distortion in the Russian copy. They did not have the capability to manufacture the huge tires. The massive landing gear also was a problem. The responsibility of copying the air frame went to Tupolev. There were miles of wires, and the sophisticated gunnery system presented the biggest problem. The Russians sent agents to the U.S. to try to purchase anything they could find in parts, plans, tires, or information pertaining to the B-29. The machine guns were replaced with cannons. The copying and manufacture of the R-3350 engine was turned over to Shvetsov. The TU-4 project was well underway early in 1945. An increase in quality control and sheer perseverance moved things along. The end of the war with Japan made no difference in the production effort. It was full speed ahead. The U.S. had previously not believed the Russians had the capability to clone the B-29, it seemed totally inconceivable. The public Russian debut in the Aviation Day parade in 1947 changed their minds. The U.S. found itself in a panic situation when they learned the TU-4 was indeed a reality, capable of hitting any target in the U.S. There were reports of “one way” missions by hundreds of TU-4s carrying nuclear bombs attacking the U.S. This forced the U.S. to beef up their Radar systems, surface to air missiles, and interceptor jet fighters. The Russian version of the U.S. B-29 Russian designation to be known as the TU–4.  The NATO designation for it was “BULL” Meanwhile, back in the Soviet Union, problems continued to plague the TU-4 project. The advanced avionics of the central fire control gunnery system remained unsolved. There were problems with the pressurization system, and the R-3350 copy was overheating, had short engine life, runaway props, and in general these serious problems led to the total unreliability of the entire aircraft. The Russians toiled endlessly on solving these problems, and it was not until 1949 that the TU-4 became fully operational with some 300 in service. The TU-4 never saw combat. Some 850 were eventually produced. Before the 60’s arrived the TU-4 had been replaced by jet aircraft. A few were given to China, and there are reports these were kept flying as late as 1968. The Ramp Tramp and the Ding Hao were scrapped. The Hap Arnold Special was never put back together. The B-29 brought our country together, and made us a proud nation. The TU-4 became as much a part of Russian aviation history as the B-29 was to American history. As far as we know the only remaining TU-4 is displayed at the Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy outside Moscow. This story, as incredible as it seems, is all true. Just another page in aviation history.

Thanks to FASF Aviation News Scout, Eric Lambart, of Portland, OR, we have this breaking news story from Great Britain and several videos about the story:

In recognition of Lesotho’s [pronounced [li SOO – too] contribution to Great Britain’s Word War II’s defenses, the Spitfire Heritage Trust has gifted a full-sized replica Spitfire plane to the southern African kingdom.  Here, below, is a short two minute forty-four second video about the event:

Armistice day, November 11, 2016: Britain remembered Lesotho’s Spitfire gift during WWII.  The Spitfire Heritage Trust (Facebook Page) has gifted Lesotho a full-sized replica spitfire to commemorate the 24 Spitfires that the southern African kingdom paid to have built for Great Britain during WWII.  At the time, Lesotho was one of the many foreign colonies which all together made up the once world wide and diverse British Empire.    Below is another short (2:34) video of the event:

Location of Kingdom of Lesotho in Africa:

        Map of Lesotho inside South Africa

The first woman to fly China’s J-10 fighter plane was killed in a crash during an aerobatics training session, Chinese state-run media reported today.

    Captain Yu Xu, of the PLA Air Force Jet Demonstration Team receives gear from crew member by her J-10 Fighter

Captain Yu Xu, 30, a member of the Chinese PLA (Peaple’s Liberation Army) Air Force’s “August 1st” aerobatic display team, died when she ejected from her aircraft during a routine aerobatic training exercise in the northern province of Hebei this past Saturday, November 12^th, the China Daily newspaper said.

                                            Captain Yu and her Co-Pilot stride from their J-10 Fighter.

During practice her fighter collided with another of the team’s jets and both she and her co-pilot ejected.  Her male co-pilot, 35, parachuted to safety, but Yu was struck, as she ejected, by one of her team mate’s fighters, and she was killed.” As one of only four female pilots in the country capable of flying these high-performance Chinese designed and built fighter jets, her death comes as a tremendous loss to the Chinese Air Force,” the Global Times newspaper said.

                                                         Chinese PLA Air Force J-10 Fighters in formation

Yu, was from Chongzhou in the southwestern province of Sichuan and she joined the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in 2005.

While Yu’s fighter was destroyed in the crash that followed the mid-air collision, the other ship involved in the accident managed to land safely.

                                     PLA Air Force J-10 Flying in Formation during Air Show

                                 Captain Yu smiles for fan as she adjusts her helmet prior to Air Show

Captain Xu graduated from her pilot training four years later, becoming one of the first 16 Chinese women pilots qualified to fly fighter jets, the China Daily said, and in July 2012 was the first woman to fly become fully qualified to fly the J-10. Fans dubbed her the “Golden Peacock,” which nick name then became her Flight’s official code name (handle) for her.

One the more than 6 million on-line Chinese bloggers commenting about the tragedy remarked that, “Soldiers sacrifice themselves for the sake of the safety and happiness of the people… We are thankful for the contribution of soldiers.”

Amidst the Chinese Internet commentators, one blogger observed that there were three other crashes involving the J-10 fighter jets last year, and that some people were dissatisfied with the way state media reported her death. It was speculated that there may have been a control flaw in the design of the front-line fighter, which control malfunction might have directly related to the mid-air collision that took the young female pilot’s life.

“It is more important to investigate the causes of the accident. Was it a design problem? Was it a problem with the procedures? Was it because of inadequate training?” Were some of the other noteworthy commentaries.

One of the other numerous Chinese journalists who commented on the crash remarked that, “Yu is the Hua Mulan (legendary woman warrior) of our era, a rare heroine.

“Yu was the first of four women who were certified to fly the J-10, a single-engine multi-role jet that entered service in 2004 and is considered the first Chinese domestic fighter to rival Western fighters in its capabilities,” one Chinese news story reported.

J-10 fighters from China’s August 1st aerobatics team performed at “Airshow China” in Zhuhai on November 4, 2016. That show was Capt. Yu Xu’s last public performance.

Below is a short, 3:54 long memorial Video of Captain Yu:

               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)

THE WASHINGTON POST

                         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.

This short piece of prose was phrased by one of our top USAF Aces from the Vietnam Conflict and comes to us as the courtesy of former Vietnam USAF Pilot and active FASF member and Aviation News Scout, Virg Hemphill.

It is followed by some short video clips and photos of the F4 Phantom, which flew for the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps during that SE Asian conflict.

Triple Ace Fighter Pilot Leader Robin Olds . . Shares these verbal images:

Like a . . brooding hen . . she squats . . half asleep . . above her egg clutch.

Her tail feathers droop . . beak juts forward belligerently . . back looks humped . . and wing tips splay upward.

Sitting there . . she’s not . . a thing of beauty . .

Far from it.

But she is my F-4, and her nest is a steel revetment—her eggs six [ 6  ] M-117, 750-pound bombs. This avian has fangs—very unbirdlike.

They nestle under her belly and cling to her wings.

She is ready to go.

Robin Olds in Flight Gear

But so am I.

She receives me and my back-seater, and we become a part of her as we attach ourselves to her with straps and hoses and plugs and connectors.

A surge of juice and a blast of compressed air and she come alive. We are as one—tied together—the machine an extension of the man—her hydraulics my muscles—her sensors my eyes—her mighty engines my power.

She screams and complains as we move through shimmering heat waves along an endless expanse of concrete.  Final checks . . then her nose pointed down nearly 2 miles of runway.

And we are ready.

Throttles forward, then outboard—THUMP, THUMP—the afterburners kick in. Now my bird roars and accelerates rapidly toward her release from mother earth, leaving a thunder behind that rattles windows and shakes the insides of those who watch.

I look over at my wingmen as we climb effortlessly toward a rendezvous with our tanker. All is well with them, and I marvel again at the transformation of our ugly duckling into a thing of graceful beauty—yet she’s businesslike . . menacing . . thrusting forward and upward with deadly purpose. Refueling done, we drop off and lunge forward, gathering speed for this day’s task.

We hurtle across the Black, then the Red Rivers, pushing our Phantoms to the limit of power without using afterburners, weaving and undulating so as not to present a steady target for the gunners below.

Then a roil of dust down to our left, and the evil white speck of a surface-to-air missile rises to meet us. We wait and watch. That missile is steady on an intercept course, and we know we are the target. Then, on signal .. we start down.

The missile follows—and now HARD DOWN—stick full forward—the negative G forces hanging us in our straps.

The missile dives to follow, and at a precise moment we PULL, PULL—as hard as  we can—the positive Gs now slamming us into our seats with crushing force. Our heavy bird with its load of bombs responds with a prolonged shudder, and we are  free for the moment, the missile passing harmlessly below . . unable to follow our maneuver.

On to the target—weaving, moving up and down, leaving the bursts of heavy flak off  to the side or down below. The F-4  is solid . . responsive, heeding my every demand quickly and smoothly.  We reach the roll-in point, and go inverted, pulling her nose down, centering the target in the combining glass as we roll into our 70-degree dive toward the release point.

My Phantom plunges toward the earth through an almost solid wall of bursting flak. Then “PICKLE!” And the bird leaps as her heavy load separates and we pull with all  our force around to our egress heading.

There are MiGs about, and my F-4 becomes a brutal beast . . . slamming this way, then that – snarling with rage . . . turning, rolling, diving, hurtling skyward like an arrow, plunging down with savage force.

The melee over, the rivers crossed, and headed for our post-strike refueling, and my bird is once again a docile, responsive lady, taking me home . . letting my heart beat slow . . giving me comfort in having survived . . once again.

The flock gathered close by, and we slowly circle each other—top, bottom, and each side, looking for flak rips, leaks and . . jagged holes.

None found . . we press on to meet our re-fueling ticket home and gratefully take on fuel from our tanker friends.

A bit of follow-the-leader up and over the beautiful mountains of dazzling  white nimbus, just to relax—to enjoy the special privilege given us in flying  this magnificent bird—and the home runway lies ahead there near the little town of Ubon-ratchitani.

Landing done, post-flight checks finished, engines shut down, and my F-4 vents its tanks with a prolonged sigh. 

It’s speaking for both of us . . . glad it’s over . . . anticipating a brief respite before the next day’s work.

It’s an unusual pilot . . who does not give his bird a private touch of loving gratitude before he leaves her nest.

Colonel Robin Olds returning from his final air combat mission in Vietnam

USN Phantom churns ocean with the shock waves from its high speed low pass

F4 Phantom with Afterburners ablaze

USAF Phantom on mission over Vietnam

Phantom in tight turn, with afterburners lit.  The moist air creates cloud-like effects from the compression waves at the trailing edge of its wings

F4 Phantom drops some of its ordinance over Vietnam . . .

The following 3:18 long video is of the F4 during Vietnam Operations:

And, immediately below, is a 6:41 long clip of the McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom in operation. This particular video shows up best right here on this FASF site if viewed with either Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Google’s Chrome Browsers rather than Mozilla’s Firefox Browser.

For more information about the birth and life of this remarkable multi service all-weather fighter aircraft simply click right here.

Breaking Aerospace News – DATELINE: Wednesday, October 5, 2016; Portland Oregon from FASF Aerospace Scout Eric Lambart . . . The below 10 minute video by Blue Origin, has a completely narrated dialogue, so please remember to turn up your volume control in order to fully comprehend what you see.

SpaceX isn’t the only private company interested in reusable rockets. Blue Origin, an American privately-funded aerospace manufacturer established by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, surprised everyone, including itself, by successfully landing its New Shepard rocket in today’s in-flight launch escape test. Gizmodo reports:

Moments ago, Blue Origin conducted an in flight test of its launch escape system, separating a crew capsule from its New Shepard booster at an altitude of 16,000 feet. This test was critical to ensure that the rocket will be safe for human passengers, whom Blue Origin hopes to start flying into sub-orbital space as early as next year. Not only did the crew capsule make a clean separation, deploy its parachutes, and land softly in a small cloud of dust back West Texas, but the booster – which people expected might go splat – continued on its merry way into suborbital space, after which it succeeded in landing smoothly back on Earth – – – for a fifth time!

Although Blue Origin has tested its launch escape system on the launchpad before, this is the first time such a system has been tested, by anyone, in flight since the 1960s. It was almost too perfect.  Many of us remember the numerous catastrophes experienced by NASA during its many launches years ago, but this is not your government achieving all of these stellar goals at colossal taxpayer expense, and so spectacularly, but the American Private Sector.

Blue Origin’s launch and recovery, yesterday, took place only two hours East of El Paso, TX, in Van Horn, TX, a small West Texas town only three hour’s drive from Columbus, NM, the HQ of the First Aero Squadron.