Warbird Information Exchange

That was tony Levier.
Bob Hoover sat out the war in a POW camp

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Don't touch my junk!!

Jack Cook wrote:



Just me, but I would have rather done the aerobatics demo. "Sat out the war in a POW Camp" just doesn't sound right somehow.

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Eric

"I spent most of my money on alcohol, women and skyraiders....and the rest of it I just wasted."

Didn't Hoover do P-39 aerobatic demos, including some sort of tumbling maneuver?

Hoover was shot down in a Spit V off S. France. He was in the 52nd FG and blamed a cowardly pilot who ran and left him. His claim was refuted
by squadron mate Bob Curtiss.

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According to Hoover's biog, he flew P-38 routines in North Africa - Tony Le Vier certainly did the same thing Stateside. I'm sure I've also read somewhere that Hoover unintentionally tumbled a P-39 in the US. Having seen first hand what an out of control Bell fighter (a P-63) can do if sufficiently provoked (not deliberately!) I'd not be surprised...

Tony Levier and "Fish Salmon"were both well known Lockheed pilots. The story I was told was that Hoover demonstrated the P-38 to pilot's in theater that were timid or afraid of the P-38. I pulled my copy of his book Forever Flying" and found one reference on page 40 of him demonstrating the P-38 in a combat theater.
Quote; "WHen it was my turn, I was determined to outperform the French pilot. On takeoff I barrel-rolled the "Fork tailed devil," as it was called by the Germans. I flew the P-38 through a series of low altitude aerobatics. They included one and then both propellors feathered (dead) engine rolls at very low altitudes. "
He was in some kind of test squadron over there where they assembled allied fighters from shipping crates and flew them on to the front lines. He eventually got a fighter pilot's slot but it was flying tired old Mk V Spitfires and he got waxed by a highly skilled German with a mastery of the deflection type shot.
I don't know if Hoover ever had formal fighter pilot and gunnery training. He originally was an enlisted type in the 105th Air squadron in Nashville , Tn Air Guard which was an observation squadron before the war. They flew O-47s and 0-38's plus a couple of J-3 cubs.
I know a friend of mine that was a pilot in the Memphis A.G. unit(pre-war) ended up flying Spitfire MK V's in England with the 9th A.F. without the benefit of any formal fighter pilot training. He said it was pretty scary, the only advantage the MK V had over the FW-190 was a tighter turning radius in a max power climb.

Jack,

Do I sense a certain amount of doubt about the greatness of Mr. Hoover?


Steve G

(withholding judgement ) but he wrote about his shootdown stating clearly stating 2 of his fellow pilots turned tail and ran from the fight leaving him. Bob Curtiss the sqd CO and triple ace said that was total BS in a article he wrote in Aviation History magazine has a rebuttle piece.
BTW-there was a story in the NATA mag a few years ago by the disgruntled owner of a T-28 who loaned Hoover his a/c to practice with prior to demonstrating his competentcy to the FAA (remember when he got his privledges revolked).
The story told how the a/c was flown inverted for too long, over g'ed and had the engine oversped causing a catastrophic engine failure. The the Wright seized it tweaked the whole airframe basically trashing the entire a/c. I'm sure Stoney recalls the article or Chuck Wahl and maybe OP our resident T-28 guru.

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That plane is based at Chino and is airworthy after an engine change. Not sure about any airframe damage.

Hoover testified about a practice flight he took in a T-28 trainer approximately one week before trial with Ray Hughes, a commercial pilot. Hoover explained that he had not flown in ten months, and wanted to get the rust off. While ten miles out over the Pacific Ocean performing his aerobatic maneuvers, Hoover observed a "chip" warning light which means there is loose metal in the engine's oil system and engine failure is imminent. When this happened, Hoover headed directly back to the (Torrance, CA) airport, expecting catastrophic engine seizure at any moment. Hoover instructed Hughes to declare a Mayday distress call. They were seven miles off the coast when Hoover was able to get the aircraft under manageable and temporary control. He made it to the runway threshold and touched down. After landing, the engine seized, and the propeller froze. The enormous torque forces caused by the sudden stoppage caused the wing bolts to be sheared, and the engine mounts to be warped. The fuselage was buckled behind the engine. Hoover handled the aircraft alone throughout the entire emergency.

He left out what he was doing that caused the failure though

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Are there any aviation legends you DO like jack?

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

Gabby Gabreski, Hub Zemke, Lindberg, Doolittle, Roger Ramjet ect ect

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You know I'm kidding you pal.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

You don't have to fly inverted to make that engine do the exact same thing!

Once you're put up on such a high pedistal It's gotta be hard staying there. You can ever look bad or wrong or foolish or whatever

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Don't touch my junk!!