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| Above, Bob Hoover and his yellow Rockwell P-51. |
Back in the 1960s through the 1980s, one of the annual events I made it a point to attend was the Point Mugu Air Show.
There, aircraft of all kinds, including military and civilian aircraft, were flown to the delight of the crowds. There were two men whose names stood out for me every year at the Point Mugu Air Show: Art Scholl and Bob Hoover.
Scholl was killed in the 1980s while flying over the Pacific Ocean near San Diego for the movie Top Gun.
I just read in the Japan Times that Bob Hoover just passed away at age 94.
They wrote:
LOS ANGELES – Robert A. “Bob” Hoover, a World War II fighter pilot who became an aviation legend for his flying skills in testing aircraft and demonstrating their capabilities in air shows, has died at age 94.
Hoover, who lived in Palos Verdes Estates, California, died early Tuesday, said Bill Fanning, a close family friend for many years and fellow pilot.
“He was every pilot’s icon,” Fanning said, recalling his friend as one of the premier test pilots of the 1950s and ’60s. “Bob tested everything. He flew them all.”
When the National Air and Space Museum conferred its highest honor on Hoover in 2007, the museum noted that Jimmy Doolittle, leader of the famed 1942 bomber raid on Japan, had once described Hoover as “the greatest stick-and-rudder man that ever lived.”Hoover provided those who attended any air show he flew at with some great memories. He also had "the right stuff".
To read more, go here.
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