End of an Era

Until Tom Cruise.

Man, this guy was awesome. Great article Lyn!

"At a World War II air base in the Mediterranean, he wrote, he terrified senior pilots who had been lording it over him by flying a P-40 fighter under a bridge while they were standing on it."

Salute to a fallen hero! While his stunts were breathtaking, it is clear he knew his stuff (which was the "right stuff"), and he never shaved those recovery margins too close.

Apparently, he was good at angering authorities wherever he flew, probably more due to their jealousy of his skill than any danger he ever put anyone in.

I guess he was a real "Maverick".

As long as we're on the subject, this would be a good read if you're in to flying, guts and bravado.

I read the book in high school, just over 50 years ago.

Douglas Bader - Wikipedia

Bader's career is certainly a flashy one. Apparently, having no legs is an advantage in high G turns. Interesting that although he thought he was in a midair collision with a 109, he may have actually been shot down by Meyer.

When he was captured the Germans couldn't understand why hitting his feet with a rifle butt had no effect on him.

They didn't know he was a double amputee.

Galland apparently was aware of him shortly after capture, and they became sort of friends. There really is something of a fraternity among fighter pilots, regardless of which side they are on. There were usually serious rules about shooting a bailed out pilot while he was in the 'chute. Poor form, low blow, and all that rot.

Yes, there is. Here's just one example:

Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident - Wikipedia

Truly the times in WWII really needed "Better Angels" to rise up, and show some humanity. I am so happy it went down that way. In all, a complete miracle that Charlie Brown was able to get that B-17 back to base, any base. At least it could still fly unloaded on 40% or less power.

I took some private pilot ground school classes from Art Scholl at San Bernardino Valley College in the mid '60s and recall his showing us a movie of the Bob Hoover finale where he made successive loops in the Shrike Commander--both engines running, then one engine and finally both props feathered. His control of the aircraft was a great incentive for me to learn to feel the aircraft.

Often described as the best stick & rudder guy in the business. It was seeing Bob Hoover fly at airshows in SoCal in his P-51 (and later Shrike Commander) in the 1960's and later that left this young boy truly in awe. Last time I saw him was in Reno about 15 years ago.

RIP Mr. Hoover.

I was glad to see somebody else recognizes who this man is, was. Twice, I had fortunate opportunity to meet and talk with him. The first time I met him he came into our hanger wanting to borrow a jack to change a tire on his commander. It was late at night and pretty slow, but when he came into the hanger the whole atmosphere change. It went from a quite to where you could hear a pin drop. But that wasn't Bob, he didn't require fanfare, he was just a plain o'le country boy. We spent time talking about everything but airplanes. What a great guy to have met, really down to earth.

Bob, as I knew him

Unfortunately, Bob never lectured about management, but he was a master of flight management and could have had some great insight to way companies should could be ran.

We will truely miss this man and his skills

The force was with Bob and Chuck and a lot of the other flying greats.

I grew up in Naval aviation, learned to fly in the Navy and did a gig on a carrier before the combined experience made me realize that native skill, intellect and caution were not enough, that flying was like motorcycling and transoceanic sailing (both of which I plunged into...for a while), a matter of unforgiving luck with even the best of craft.

The flying greats had the moxy, but they also had the luck. I lost two close friends (a Navy and a Marine pilot) in non-combat who had the moxy but not the luck.

And now we have a couple of generations of astronauts. I watched most of the Americans go aloft, each time in stark amazement of the cojones of these folks and the utter admiration of their courage. They are immersed in the tradition of Bob and Chuck and all the rest of our aviation greats...the right stuff and very, very lucky.

R.I.P. Mr. Hoover. A master at piloting, unequaled by others.

I have been fortunate to have seen his demonstrations over the years at airshows. First in the 1960s flying his yellow P-51D Mustang sponsored by Rockwell, and later several times flying his Strike Commander.

One hell of a way to impress a teenager who loved airplanes!