Aviation milestones........

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Niner Delta
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Aviation milestones........

Post by Niner Delta » Sat Oct 29, 2016 5:21 pm

There were a couple of milestone events recently that we haven't mentioned here.

The most recent, was the passing, at 94, of Robert Anderson "Bob" Hoover (January 24, 1922 – October 25, 2016).
This man was one of the best pilots of all time, without a doubt.
"Hoover was considered one of the founding fathers of modern aerobatics and was described by Jimmy Doolittle as
"the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived". In the Centennial of Flight edition of Air & Space/Smithsonian,
he was named the third greatest aviator in history."

The other item.........

Last July, FIFI, the worlds only flying B-29, became one of only TWO flying B-29s. The other one is DOC, that took to
the air for the first time on July 17th. The B-29 is an awesome aircraft, although I have never flown in one, I have
crawled through FIFI and it is the Cadillac to the B-17 and B-24s Chevrolet. It was the ultimate bomber of it's time.
Here are some photos, it is absolutely beautiful in it's polished skin....... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:



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Attachments
DOC B-29.jpg
B-29.jpg
B-29-1.jpg
B-29-2.jpg
:USA:

Peace is that brief, quiet moment in history.......... when everybody stands around reloading.
Reese Williams
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Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:05 pm

Re: Aviation milestones........

Post by Reese Williams » Mon Oct 31, 2016 9:34 am

I was lucky enough to see Bob Hoover fly a few times in the late 60's early 70's. He flew a bright yellow and black P-51 and an North American Aero Commander Shrike. He was the demonstration pilot for North American. To my late teen-aged eyes the Shrike was to airplanes what the Jaguar XKE was to automobiles. The Shrike was a twin engine business prop plane. His trade mark air show maneuver with the Shrike after various 8 and 16 point rolls, some with one engine feathered was to do an outside loop, at the bottom of the loop he'd roll the plane right side up and feather both engines. He'd perform an inside loop with both engines out and come in to a dead stick landing. As he was making his landing approach his narrator would take off his ball cap and throw it on the runway behind him. Hoover would land and roll down the runway stopping with the Shrike's nose wheel on the hat.
Here are a couple of videos worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9pvG_ZSnCc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7R7jZmliGc

His biography "Forever Flying" is a riveting read for anyone interested in airplanes. He was a test pilot in WWII, combat pilot, POW, escaped from a POW camp and hot wired a German fighter which he flew back to Allied lines, was friends with Orville Wright and Charles Lindbergh, fierce promoter of general aviation and through it all appears to have maintained a fairly humble attitude and sense of humor.
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