Carroll Shelby and.....Bob Hoover?

Thanks for posting that, Jim. I knew Bob and did several airshows with him in the cast. We also knew a pilot by the name of Jack Leffler who exhibited the same qualities when he graduated from flight school. So good that they made him a B-24 flight instructor and he never went over seas but his contributions to the war effort were as important as any combat pilot when he trained many on how to fly the B-Two Dozen which was not the most friendly airplane in the store. I flew many times with Jack in his C-185 and Monocoupe AW and he taught me plenty with his sense of what was right at any time in weather or CAVU. jack was every bit as good as Hoover in an airplane...almost. Jack didn't do airshows because he was still flying left seat for UAL in DC-8's and eventually 747's but I saw him perform outside loops and bunts in Ernie Gann's Bucker Jungman and and it was obvious that he was a vanishing breed...Ernie's words.

 

Being a sh-t hot stick often did not translate into a great combat career. Hoover himself as a prime example, he spent his war in a POW camp after a FW-190 jockey blew his Spitfire out from under him in one of his first combat engagements. Yeager experienced much the same thing - 190 shot him down in one of his first combat sorties but he evaded capture and wiggled his way back to combat flying.

Excellent tactical situational awareness was far more important than raw flying talent, but SA wasn't something that was easily taught. It had to be learned the hard way. Most of the great ones started out slow, Hartmann included.

I met Bob Hoover a couple of times at Oshkosh back in the 1970s when as a kid I went most years with my father. His P-51 routine was my favorite but his Shrike Commander dead stick routine was pretty dang amazing too!


Terry

 

Clay Lacy was also a UAL Captain but his did do races, stunts, LearJet charter, air-to-air filiming and all sort of crazy things too.

Jeff

 

Went to an airshow whe I was young, East of Aurora, CO (airport is abandoned now).

Bob Hoover did his incredible Shrike routine... just amazing...

Greg 'Pappy' Boyington was there too, but didn't fly.


I got autographs of both of them.