Posted on 10/25/2016 10:03:09 AM PDT by EveningStar
Exactly. And I enjoyed the hell out of his books as well. I have great respect for Gen. Yeager as well.
What a man.
Met him at Sun & Fun a few years ago.
It was a thrill.
GOD bless, Sir.
You have to know what a pain in the rear it would be to never be able to go outside without some well meaning person thinking they know you or want something.
No man ever cheated death like Bob Hoover and lived to die a natural death. His performances were breath-stopping! I saw him at numerous air shows and wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Now he is going to get his REAL wings and I imagine his best flying is still to come. RIP Bob.
—great flyer—was him do a hammerhead stall in Ogden ,Utah some years ago-—
Bob was a nice guy, he will be missed. Thank you for letting us know.
Great story, thanks.
Truly one of the greatest pilots ever.
So sad to lose such a great and accomplished gentleman at a time when our fine Country is in desperate need of role models of courage, character, and substance.
I have been to many air shows, and have read many aviation magazines. I met Gregory “Pappy” Boyington several times; I do not remember if I ever met Bob Hoover.
However, I have lost track of how many times I have seen pictures of Hoover in a P-51 or some other aircraft.
He was a truly extraordinary pilot, and will be remembered.
In 1982 I saw this gentleman at an Air Show at the Naval Base in Corpus Christi. His flying was superbad to say the least. What really impressed me was after his flying was his interaction with the crowd. There were old war dogs and pilots and little kids. He spoke to all of them politely and honestly. He was a real gentleman and warrior.
I wish I had shaken his hand but he was busy with kids and warriors. I did not want to interrupt his good deeds with kids and warriors.
Today earth is a little bit less by his passing, heaven is a hell of a lot greater by his presence!
awesome!!
I considered it a wonderful night if an F-14 would engage stage 5 afterburner. You could read a book by that light as they passed overhead.
Air & Space magazine articles about him.
http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/r-bob-hoover-dies-94-180960903/?no-ist
Yeah. I know, which is why I kicked myself for feeling that way.
What a hell of an aviator, and what a wonderful role model. He never quit. He had a good run, and we all have to go someday, and most of us wish that we could leave footprints. But this guy, he was truly one of the immortals. He was to aviation as Bob Hope was to entertainment, Arnold Palmer to golf, Sir Edmund Hillary to mountain climbing, an ordinary looking man who was a true giant of his profession. He loved aviation and aviation loved him. I truly admire men like him. He left a wonderful legacy, and I am so glad that there are American men like him.
He was a real gentleman. A classy guy.
That was exactly how he came across to me.
Gracious. You don’t hear people described that way these days.
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