Bob Hoover: Pilot, Gentleman, & Legend

"I don't think I possess any skill that anyone else doesn't have. I've just had perhaps more of an opportunity, more of an exposure, and been fortunate to survive a lot of situations that many others weren't so lucky to make it. It's not how close can you get to the ground, but how precise can you fly the airplane. If you feel so careless with your life that you want to be the world's lowest flying aviator you might do it for a while. But there are a great many former friends of mine who are no longer with us simply because they cut their margins too close." -Robert A. "Bob" Hoover

Bob Hoover at the 2013 Reno Air Races, wearing his signature straw hat!

Today, the aviation community woke up to the sad and heartbreaking news of Bob Hoover's passing at the age of 94. A former air show pilot, former test pilot for the United States Air Force, and former fighter pilot during World War II, Robert A. "Bob" Hoover tested and flew well over 300 different aircraft types and was regarded by many to be perhaps one of the greatest pilots to have ever lived. He revolutionized modern aerobatic flying as we know it today and Jimmy Doolittle regarded him as "the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived." His distinguished flying career spanned over 70 years and his stories and experiences are many.

He was a fine gentleman and a friend of aviation. The aviation industry is perhaps better today partly because of him. He was most famous for his incredible air show aerobatic performances in the North American Rockwell 500S Shrike Commander (now on display at the Smithsonian) and the North American P-51 Mustang known as "Ole Yeller," (pictured below) which he used often as the pace plane in air racing as the pace pilot.

Bob Hoover's old P-51 Mustang "Ole Yeller" displayed and maintained in airworthy condition at the Legacy Flight Museum in Rexburg, ID by current owner, John Bagley. So long as planes like "Ole Yeller" remain preserved, the legacy and stories of Bob Hoover will live on forever in our hearts...

Those of us within the aviation community carry on in honor of Bob Hoover and his legacy in our inspired hearts. To you, Mr. Bob Hoover, the greatest pilot this world has ever known, blue skies to you, sir. You will be missed...

"Gentlemen, you have a race!" -Bob Hoover at the start of each air race he paced

Flying West

I hope there's a place, way up in the sky

Where pilots can go when they have to die.

A place where a guy could buy a cold beer

For a friend and a comrade whose memory is dear.

A place where no doctor or lawyer could tread,

Nor a management-type would e'ler be caught dead!

Just a quaint little place, kind of dark, full of smoke,

Where they like to sing loud, and love a good joke.

The kind of a place that a lady could go

And feel safe and secure by the men she would know.

There must be a place where old pilots go,

When their wings become heavy, when their airspeed gets low,

Where the whiskey is old, and the women are young,

And songs about flying and dying are sung.

Where you'd see all the fellows who'd 'flown west' before,

And they'd call out your name, as you came through the door,

Who would buy you a drink, if your thirst should be bad,

And relate to the others, "He was quite a good lad!"

And there, through the mist, you'd spot an old guy

You had not seen in years, though he'd taught you to fly.

He'd nod his old head, and grin ear to ear

And say, "Welcome, my Son, I'm proud that you're here!

For this is the place where true flyers come

When the battles are over, and the wars have been won.

They've come here at last, to be safe and alone,

From the government clerk, and the management clone;

Politicians and lawyers, the Feds, and the noise,

Where all hours are happy, and these good ol' boys

Can relax with a cool one, and a well deserved rest!

This is Heaven, my Son. You've passed your last test!"

-Capt. Michael J. Larkin (Author)