“The Pilots’ Pilot” Bob Hoover, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, General Edward L. Bolton, Jr and Delaware Governor Jack Markell all visit NBBA 2014 in Orlando

Filed under: Business,Florida News,Orlando Events |

NBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)

The National Business Aviation Association conference today welcomed a legend in the aviation industry as “The Pilots’ Pilot” Bob Hoover collect the NBAA’s Meritorious Service to Aviation Award. Also in attendance were U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, General Edward L. Bolton, Jr. and Delaware Governor Jack Markell.

Bob Hoover at NBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)Ed Bolen at NBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)

The star of the show though was without doubt Bob Hoover (pictured above left) who was introduced to the audience by NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen (pictured above right). Hoover was accompanied by another legend in the aviation industry as Sean D. Tucker sat down with Hoover for a question and answer session. Tucker only got to ask two questions in a fascinating 20 minute spot as Hoover recounted his times meeting with Charles Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong. Hoover hardly paused for breath as he recounted some of the stories from his past and he had the audience enthralled.

Hoover was enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard and was sent for pilot training with the army.  During World War II, he was sent to Casablanca where his first major assignment was test flying the assembled aircraft ready for service. He was later assigned to the Spitfire-equipped 52nd Fighter Group in Sicily. In 1944, on his 59th mission, his malfunctioning Mark V Spitfire was shot down by a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 off the coast of Southern France and he was taken prisoner.  He spent 16 months at the German prison camp Stalag Luft in Barth, Germany.

Hoover managed to escape from the prison camp, stole an Fw190, and flew to safety in the Netherlands. He was assigned to flight-test duty at Wright Field after the war. There he impressed and befriended Chuck Yeager and when Yeager was later asked who he wanted as flight crew for the supersonic Bell X-1 flight he named Hoover.

In 1948 he left the Air Force for civilian jobs with Allison Engine Company and finally test/demonstration pilot with North American Aviation where he went on to Korea teaching the pilots in the Korean war how to dive-bomb with the F-86 Sabre. Hoover also visited many active-duty, reserve and air national guard units to demonstrate the plane’s capabilities to their pilots.

Bob Hoover and Sean Tucker atNBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)

In the early 1960s, Hoover proposed the idea of promoting the North American name by demonstrating one of North American’s most famous products, the P-51 Mustang fighter, at airshows around the country. The Hoover Mustang (N2251D) was purchased by North American Aviation from Dave Lindsay’s Cavalier Aircraft Corp.  in 1962. A second Mustang (N51RH), later named “Ole Yeller,” was purchased by North American Rockwell from Cavalier in 1971 to replace the earlier aircraft that was destroyed in a ground accident when an oxygen bottle exploded after being overfilled. Hoover demonstrated the Mustang and later the Aero Commander at hundreds of airshows until his retirement in the 1990s.

Hoover has set records for transcontinental and “time to climb” speed, and has personally known such great aviators as Orville Wright, Eddie Rickenbacker, Charles Lindbergh. James H. Doolittle, Jacqueline Cochran, Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin.

Hoover is best known for his civil air show career, which started when he was hired to demonstrate the capabilities of  Aero Commander’s Shrike Commander, a twin piston-engined business aircraft which had developed a rather staid reputation due to its bulky shape. Hoover showed the strength of the plane as he put the aircraft through rolls, loops, and other maneuvers which most people would not associate with executive aircraft. As a grand finale, he shut down both engines and executed a loop and an eight-point hesitation slow roll as he headed back to the runway. He touched down on one tire, then the other, before landing. After pulling off the runway, he would start engines to taxi back to the parking area. On airfields with large enough parking ramps, Hoover would sometimes land directly on the ramp and coast all the way back to his parking spot in front of the grandstand without restarting the engines.

If you’d like to learn more about Bob Hoover’s life, then look for the movie “Flying the Feathered Edge” on DVD or visit this web page http://www.thebobhooverproject.com/

Bob Hoover and Sean Tucker atNBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)

Hoover’s host at the event was Sean D. Tucker (pictured above left) who himself is a renowned pilot in his own right. Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008 and was also named one of the Living Legends in Aviation. He was also the recipient of the Crystal Eagle Award, an inductee at the 2001 USAF Gathering of Eagles, and was named one of the Living Legends of Flight. Best known as an aerobatic pilot, Tucker still performs today for Team Oracle.

Senator Bill Nelson at NBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (pictured above) was introduced to the audience by Ed Bolen and he spoke to the audience for about ten minutes as he relayed his own space adventures. In 1986, Nelson became the second sitting member of Congress (and the first member of the House) to travel into space. He went through NASA training with Senator Jake Garn of  Utah. He was a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle Columbia’s STS-61-C mission from January 12 to 18, 1986. The mission elapsed time was 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds and it was the last successful Space Shuttle flight before the Challenger accident, as the disaster occurred only 10 days after Columbia’s return.

Nelson told the audience “From space you look down at our planet and you really understand that we are all in this together. We’re not democrats or republicans, just humans all on the earth together.” He then spoke about the importance of the aviation industry to the US economy and how important it was for the industry to keep on innovating for the future.

General Edward L. Bolton, Jr atNBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)

General Edward L. Bolton, Jr. (pictured above) spoke after Nelson. Bolton is the Assistant Administrator for NextGen at the Federal Aviation Administration and he leads a staff of civilian and military financial managers responsible for the formulation and execution of the Air Force’s annual $110 billion budget. He began his Air Force career as an enlisted cost and management analyst. He was commissioned in 1983 after completing an electrical engineering degree via the Airmen Education and Commissioning Program and graduation from Officer Training School. Operationally, the general served as Commander, 45th Space Wing, and Director Eastern Range, Patrick AFB, Florida. He oversaw a $5B budget, 24 successful spacelift, shuttle, test and range missions, the highest operations tempo since Sept. 11, 2001, and the wing won the 2009 General Thomas Moorman Trophy honoring the best wing in Air Force Space Command.

Delaware Governor Jack Markell atNBAA 2014 - Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - 21-23 October 2014(Photographer: Nigel Worrall)

Delaware Governor Jack Markell (pictured above) rounded off the morning session as he spoke about his hometown state and the reasons why business might want to consider relocating to “The First State.”

More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com

 

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