A Jack Brabham aviation story

Good story. Brabham had a great life it seems. I was fortunate to see Hoover do his routine, and my first wife had an affair
with a guy who flew an aero commander. So much to relate too...

 

Good to know that he had a Commander. I've been flying them for 28 years now... and riding in them even longer. Still flying one presently, in fact.

http://www.twincommander.com/

 

James- Bob Hoover used to do a P-51 and Aero Commander show when NA owned them. Saw him in the 60s with my father, also a P-51 pilot. He could do amazing things with that pretty little twin.

 

Hoover did the Shrike routine for many, many years-- into the 1990s. He also did a similar route in the Sabreliner.

Back in the day, when he used to fly the pace airplane for the Reno Air Races, you could look up while the race was going on and see the yellow P-51 doing all sorts of aerobatics, way up high above the race, where you could barely see him. I think he just enjoyed doing it.

 

Taz, when I was doing air shows in the 60's and 70's we were also billed at Abottsford with Hoover and his dual act that he did with the P-51 and Shrike. We also performed at Abottsford with Chuck Lyford who did the engine out P-38 routine for the first time. It blew everybody away when he came out of a long dive and shut down both engines and went into a dead stick routine with loops and rolls. Then as he was climbing away from the show line he started everything up and came back with a high speed pass and a roll.
He kept telling Bob that he should do an engine out routine with the Shrike. Next year he added the dead stick routine to his aerobatic act with the Shrike. Those were heady days and I'll never forget them. Years later when I attended a testimonial dinner at the Museum Of Flight, Bob came over and warmly greeted me. He hadn't forgotten. He is a cut above most of those that we met in the air show game.

 

Great thread, thanks to all.

 

Yes I remember those days..I also enjoyed Art Scholl and his dog Aileron....

 

Looking back at many air shows with "Art School", as we nicknamed him, I remember him as a dynamo during a show. He didn't talk to anyone when he was preparing to do his routine but after the show he was all fun and still energized. He was a showman of circus quality and did some wild things. One that was a bit scary was flying his Chipmunk along the show line at 500 feet while standing on the wing to demonstrate a new auto pilot. Unbelievably he told us that we were nuts doing the stuff that we were doing. A fun guy.

 

In 1983, when I made my one (and so far, only) trip to the Oshkosh event, I was coming up from Fond du Lac riding in a nearly empty Trailways bus. As we approached Oshkosh, I could see an airplane doing aerobatics up ahead, so I knew that I was in the right place. As we got closer, I recognized the airplane as Bob Hoover's yellow P-51. I was definitely in the right place!

 

Sorry for the thread drift! Both Jack Brabham and Bob Hoover deserve their own threads...

From a bit of Googling, it looks like Brabham owned a Shrike Commander (a 500S).

 

I'm guilty of assisting the thread drift. One name leads to another and that leads to an event and that leads to....

 

When I saw Hoover's routine here may years ago, I decided that one day, I'd own a and fly a Shrike (Brabham content)...

That day is not going to happen... but they are wonderful planes IMO. Still.

 

When I saw Hoover fly here, years ago, I thought that I'd have a Shrike some day...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhkmY3rELeY

Not going to happen for me, but what a plane, in my mind.

Hoover's retired. Wonder if he still wears his straw helmet?

That airport is long gone... nothing left. Over near where "Front Range Airport" is now.

 

This is Bob, from last fall:

Sabreliner-60 with R.A. "Bob" Hoover over Edwards dry lake bed, shot with GoPro's on Vimeo

 

How many F1 drivers over the years have piloted their own planes? Of course, we know about Niki Lauda (who wound up piloting airliners!), but who else?

I know Carlos Pace was killed in a plane crash, but I understand that he was not the pilot. Did any others come to grief in a plane?

 

Mac Tilton, founder of the Tilton brakes and clutch company is an old friend. Sitting around with a bunch of friends bench racing once this topic came up. Mac rattled off a very long list of names many of which I recognized. When he finished he said they were all race car drivers that died in airplanes. Not only do many have and fly their own many spend a lot of time airborne in private or chartered travelling to races and appearances.

 

Great stories...
In case anyone doesn't have a copy Bob Hoover's autobiography is a must-read:
Forever Flying: Fifty Years of High-flying Adventures, From Barnstorming in Prop Planes to Dogfighting Germans to Testing Supersonic Jets, An Autobiography: Bob Hoover: 9780671537616: Amazon.com: Books
His tales of flying with Chuck Yeager especially are amazing.

My closest brush with Mr. Hoover: At the Oshkosh Fly-In in 2009, right after I had a flight in B-17 Aluminum Overcast, I walked into a merchandise tent to browse T-shirts and saw a LONG line winding through the tent and well outside. Asked someone in line what they were waiting for, it was to get their copy of "Forever Flying" signed by the man himself who was sitting at a table next to the registers beaming and chatting with every person who reverentially handed him a book to sign. I stood there and watched him interact with folk for a few minutes, he was just happier than can be to share his love of flying with others.
Great video Don, however his 4-point roll wasn't QUITE perfect.... but not bad for 92 year old

 

When I quit flying , my wife and I were talking about those that we knew who had met their end flying in air shows. In ten years it was 33. Some big names, some little names.

 

Since he doesn't have a medical, I assume it wasn't him doing the takeoff-- and I don't imagine he's thrilled that the nosewheel was off centerline, on video.

 

Steves 51 had a main gear door with a long list of names of friends. Last I saw the plane I think he painted it over. It bothered him seeing it.