The story at the link says; “Having been shot down in World War II, he escaped near the end of the war by stealing a German fighter.” What? I gots to do me some research on that one.
Yeah. Stole a FW190 from an airfield...crazy!
With young American pilots just scouring the landscape for any German plane in the air, that would have been a hazardous undertaking indeed.
Though any young pilot who took him on might have had his hands full...
Looking for “stealing a German fighter”
And found this bit of fun.
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/grand-theft-aircraft.13591/
“Someone else is guilty of Grand Theft Aircraft...
Not long after scrambling into their dingy after the crash Ted and his crew where picked up by an Italian sea plane and made prisoners of war.
It did not take them long to learn that they would be taken to Taranto in Italy where they would spend the rest of the war as prisoners.
The thought of their approaching doom spurred them into taking action against their captors. With the watchful eyes of the guard on them and limited communication the worlds first skyjack swung into action.
They started straight for the radio operator, clearly to make sure no contact was made to the base and successfully took him out. They then overpowered an unexpected guard and managed to get his weapon off him. The first part of their attack was successful but the turning point came when the co-pilot pulled a pistol on them. Luck was on their side however as it was one the Italian’s own comrades that knocked the weapon from his hands in the frantic struggle to regain control. It was after that bit of fortune in the frenzied chaos that they knew the plane was theirs, and Ted wasted no time in taking over the controls.
New problems now became apparent. The first and more immediate issue was that they were fast running low on fuel. After asking the Italian Engineer kindly (at gunpoint) to switch to reserves and by changing their route, flying rather to their base at Malta instead of the African coast, this first problem was quickly taken care of. Next was the problem of flying an Italian plane. Ted’s experience was sufficient to fly an Italian plane but to the allies this was an enemy aircraft fast approaching the Malta coast. Soon there were spitfires gunning them down. Normally the sight of spitfires off the wing of his torpedo bomber would have been comforting, however this was clearly not a Bristol Beaufort bomber and with holes being shot in his tail this was definitely not comforting. Ted hurled the first pilot back into his seat and ordered him in hurried sign-language to land in the sea.
One of the men then whipped off his shirt and took his vest — the only white article he had — and waved it out of the window making it clear that they had come to surrender — albeit to their own side!
The first wave of spits managed to do fair damage to the plane but they landed safely and the worlds 1st skyjack was over.
Astonished to see four RAF’s in the Italian plane a member of the launch team towing them back to St Paul’s Bay said “We thought it was old Mussolini coming to give himself up!””
Air & Space magazine articles about him.
http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/r-bob-hoover-dies-94-180960903/?no-ist
I understand that he was more of a maintenance/ferry pilot than a fighter pilot. That he had sought combat but his superiors would rather have him in a support role. I have his bio here somewhere. Regardless, he did get shot down in combat, was held as a POW, and escaped. Although if I remember correctly it was on foot and through Spain.
To me a cook or a clerk typist during WWII is still a hero. Bob Hoover was in a league of his own. Those unsung heroes who developed and tested systems so others could fight. And not satisfied with that he went on to an incredible show/sport pilot career. An aviation saint. One of my childhood heroes.
I wish I could live to 94 and accomplish 1/1000th of the things he did. Godspeed Mr. Hoover.
His worry after a successful takeoff, was being shot down by the allies.