Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

It's Official: Today Does Suck; Aviation Edition

Bob Hoover has died.

Bob Hoover was one of the greats. He could sure fly.




A lot of trust between the aviation community and the FAA went away when they tried to screw Bob Hoover. Many of us old pharts have not forgotten that.

12 comments:

Borepatch said...

What's the story of Hoover and the FAA? Would you do a post about it? Not being a pilot, I haven't heard of this before. Google leads me to what looks like a lot of FAA self-serving web sites.

Comrade Misfit said...

As i recall it, some overzealous FAA weenie went up to Hoover and asked to see his license and medical certificate. Hoover handed them to the weenie. The weenie kept the medical certificate and claimed that Hoover surrendered it. The FAA would not give it back. Hoover went to Australia; they gave him a license and a medical, so he was able to keep flying outside of the US. The FAA relented and gave Hoover back his medical, three years later.

It was a huge flap in the pre-internet online world. There were allegations that the FAA inspector involved was trying to bust a famous pilot.

Since then, savvy pilots do not let any FAA inspector or, for that any LEO, take possession of their aviation creds. Show it to them, sure, but never let them hold it.

To this day, of course, the FAA won't admit that they were wrong. You can find some self-serving bullshit FAA editorial by one of the assholes involved, still proclaiming that he was right.

The FAA was full of shit then and they are now.

Mike R said...

Nobody that has a little power wants admit to wrong doing or being in error. FAA weenie sounds like he was a former security guard at a mall.

CenterPuke88 said...

Saw Bob do his energy control show, at KOKC (in 1988?), in his Shrike Commander. Ended up rolling to a stop at the end of the show on the FAA Ramp at the Aeronautical Center! The bullshit on his medical was typical of the 90's FAA. The better story of Bob is how he escaped captivity in WWII.

DTWND said...

As a retired FAA controller (best job in the world), I have seen first hand how the shoe polishers try to build their own little kingdoms that they can rule without being questioned. From the QA guy thru the Plans and Programs gal up to the Facility chief, they all want to be THE authority figure. We used to just laugh at them and go back to working airplanes.

Dale

CenterPuke88 said...

DTWND, you gotta use the whole phrase..."The best job in the world, working for the worst employer in the world".

It's not inherently that way, but all those little fiefdom builders make it so.

LRod said...

I posted about Bob on FB yesterday. I included a short mention of the medical flap. I want to assure everyone that stuff those dolts pulled in their division was not what we on the boards did in AT. As mentioned above, best job in the world, worst employer in the world.

LRod
ZJX, ORD, ZAU retired

Joe said...

"The hard part is pouring the iced tea."

Ole Phat Stu said...

I saw Bob once, in the 80s. He came over the field, turned both engines off and aerobatted his way to a landing and rolled out into the pre-assigned parking lot with 2 dead & feathered engines! Wow!

Stu Savory, CFII

Nangleator said...

Yeager's biography had a story of Mr. Hoover deadsticking a plane back onto the field. He hit the roof of a moving truck with his main gear to clear the fence.

Eck! said...

A wonderful person to listen to and a very skilled pilot.
He will be missed.

The FAA, phfft splat.
They will never be missed.

Eck!

dean said...

I fly and hang out at Jackson Flight Center in Moses Lake WA, the owners are Daryl and Darrin Jackson. Daryl was a test pilot at Rockwell International with Bob so besides seeing his airshow routine I got to met him through Daryl. I attended a public forum with Bob, Chuck Yeager, and another name I can't remember in the base theater at Edwards AFB where they "BSed" for about 2 hours about their experiences flying. Of course Chuck was a larger than life figure and dominated the discourse that day.
Bob was one of the nicest people I've ever met, a little quite, very polite, and most of the time with a small smile on his face. I've never heard anyone say even one bad thing about Bob, everyone who met him, pilot or not, respected him and wanted to be his friend. He will be missed.