No matter how anyone defines what makes a person an aviation legend, no one can deny that Bob Hoover definitely is one. In fact, he has been enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, since 1988, certainly a credible barometer of men and women worthy of the title “aviation legend.”
So if you consider yourself an aviation aficionado and have never heard of Robert A. “Bob” Hoover, you need to check out his bio on Wikipedia right now, read every word and watch every linked video. Then you’ll know not only why NBAA this year is presenting him the Meritorious Service Award–the association’s most prestigious award–but you’ll also wonder why the association had not done this many years ago.
My father used to tell me about the time he watched Hoover do an unbelievable aerobatics routine in his Aero Commander 500S/Shrike Commander, a high-wing executive airplane with an almost square fuselage cross-section that makes the aircraft look as if a standard-rate turn should define its roll limit. After performing a series of impressive aerobatic maneuvers, Hoover, for his grand finale, shut down both of the Shrike’s piston engines, flew a loop above the runway, then a slow, eight-point roll followed by a 180-degree turn to final and descended to kiss the runway with the right main wheel, then with the left and finally with all three tires touching down together as the airplane slowed to a near stall. If he had room to land on the airport ramp, he would then coast back to his parking spot in front of the grandstand without restarting the engines. My father, a World War II Naval aviator, could only shake his head in awe and genuine admiration of Hoover’s flying skill, made all the more impressive because “he was a former Army pilot.”
As an Army pilot during WWII, Hoover spent 16 months as a German prisoner of war, after being shot down off the coast of southern France by a Focke-Wulf Fw 190D on his 59th combat mission in 1944. He was flying a Supermarine Mark V Spitfire of the 52nd Fighter Group. Hoover escaped from the prison camp and managed, ironically, to commandeer another Fw 190, which he flew to safety in just-liberated Holland.
Upon returning to the U.S., Hoover evaluated captured enemy aircraft and flight-tested U.S. combat airplanes, including the first jets. As an alternate pilot for the supersonic Bell X-1, Hoover flew the chase plane when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. During his military career, Hoover’s citations included the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, the Legion of Merit and the Prisoner of War Medal, among others.
After leaving the Air Force in 1948, Hoover became a civilian test pilot, working for North American Aviation and Rockwell International for more than three decades. He has piloted more than 300 types of aircraft and remains best known for his jaw-dropping aerial demonstrations in the P-51 Mustang and Shrike Commander. General James “Jimmy” Doolittle– known for being the first pilot to take off, fly and land an airplane using instruments alone and for leading the daring “Doolittle Raid” of 16 B-25 medium bombers against Japan in 1942, which earned him the Medal of Honor–called Hoover “the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived.”
“Bob Hoover is well established as one of the world’s most accomplished aviators,” said Ed Bolen, NBAA president and CEO. “He has been an inspiration to multiple generations of pilots, including business aviators, and has been an active participant in NBAA’s convention for many years. We are honored to bestow upon him our association’s highest honor, in recognition of his long, illustrious career.”
