Timeless Voices

[Wyandot Jim]

Hey Guys,
If you enjoy flying stories check these out. Most are WWII and told by the common man. Quite a few of them from Bob Hoover to this Marine Corsair Pilot. His is pretty good. Beats watching TV. Not many of these guys left.
http://bcove.me/umplyfqw

 

[RugerHound]

Fabulous stuff Jim! I watched Bob Hoover take off from Otay Mesa at Brown Field many years ago... He took off, did one of his razzle-dazzle over-the-side-of-the-mesa dips with his Shrike Commander. We waited, waited and waited; Fully expecting him to come up out of the canyon. Before long there was a puff of smoke and no Bob.

The Shrike Commander was a piston aircraft, but the young man who filled the fuel tanks was convinced it was a turboprop. So he filled Bob's Shrike up with jet fuel!

Not good...

Bob and his passengers were fine but the airplane was pretty well stove up. Someone interviewed him from one of the local news shows and asked what he thought about the young man who made the potentially deadly mistake. Bob said that everyone makes mistakes, but he was absolutely sure that the young man who made the mistake was never EVER going to make that mistake again, making him the safest gas boy on the field. He insisted that the young man exclusively take care of any aircraft that he would be associated with as long as Hoover was at the airshow.

Now THAT is class! Can you imagine being that young man? I'd love to know how his life turned out...

 

[exavid]

I've watched Hoover's power off aerobatics in his Shrike several times and am always in awe of his routine. He just called it 'energy management'. Kinda like Leonardo calling the Mona Lisa, paint on canvas.