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The Aviations Speakers Bureau has keynote speakers and motivational speakers
for every engagement. View videos and read speaker biographies by selecting
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Speaker Biography
 Hoover learned to fly at Nashville's Berry field. He worked at a grocery store to earn the money required for flight instructions. Almost immediately, he began to try his hand at rolls and loops and taught himself aerobatics. The young pilot enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard and was later sent to Army Pilot Training.
After Hoover graduated, he was sent to England. Then after the invasion of North Africa by the Allies, he was sent to Casablanca where he tested all types of airplanes that had been transported overseas on ships, then assembled. Bob was 21 years old at the time. He then obtained an assignment with the 52nd Fighter Group stationed in Sicily, one of the two Spitfire outfits in the Army's air forces. He flew 58 successful missions, but was shot down on the 59th off the coast of Southern France. Hoover spent 16 months in Stalag Luft 1, a German prison camp.
Upon returning to the U.S. following the war's end in Europe, Bob was assigned to the Flight Test Division at Wright field, where he test flew for evaluation many of the captured Japanese and German airplanes. He also flew the latest aircraft being tested for our own Air Force. In 1948, he accepted a position with General Motors as a test pilot for high altitude performance testing of Allison jet engines and the development of propellers.
In 1950, Hoover was hired by North American Aviation to do experimental flight testing on all models of the F-86 Sabre jet and the Navy FJ-2 jet fighter and later on, the famous F-100. During these early days with North American, he demonstrated safe handling and flying qualities on F-86 and F-100 series fighters to pilots all over the world. Beyond the normal call of duty, he also flew combat dive bombing missions with Air Force squadrons in Korea, demonstrating the capabilities of the F-86 over enemy territory.
He was the first man to fly the XFJ-2 Fury Jet and the Navy's T-28 trainer and has also set a number of world aviation records including three climb to altitude records of a turbo prop Commander, performed at the Hanover Air Show in West Germany in April 1978. Another coast-to-coast record was set in a P-51 in five hours and 20 minutes from Los Angeles, California to Daytona Beach, Florida in 1985. Hoover also holds a number of world records in jet aircraft and was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Soldier's Medal, Air Medal and Purple Heart. He was presented the Aviation Pioneer Award as the world's most notable, decorated and respected living pilot by Parks College in St. Louis.
He received the Arthur Godfrey Aviation Award from the Minneapolis Aquatennial for accomplishments in flight testing. In 1981, he received the Flying Tiger Pilot Award for his outstanding contribution to aviation. The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce awarded him the 1982 Kitty Hawk Award. That same year he received the Wilkinson Silver Sword for his airshow work. He received the Lindbergh Award at the Smithsonian in May of 1986. In August of 1986, Hoover was honored during Bob Hoover Day at the 34th Annual Oshkosh Celebration by the Experimental Aircraft Association ("EAX). He is also an Honorary Member of the Fighter Aces Association and the Eagle Squadron Association. In July of 1988, Bob was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio along with other aviation and space pioneers such as; Neil Armstrong, James Doolittle, Barry Goldwater, Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, The Wright Brothers, Chuck Yeager, Richard Byrd and Howard Hughes.
Hoover served as the back-up and chase pilot to General Chuck Yeager on the X-1flights. Yeager participated in the EAA program honoring Hoover along with other leading citizens of the aviation community.
The recipient of countless awards and honors, Hoover is the only man to serve two terms as President of the exclusive Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He was the Captain of the United States Aerobatic Team, which participated in the 1966 International Competition in Moscow.
In 1988, 1989 and 1990 he was selected as the most outstanding airshow performer of the year and received the number one Showmanship Award from the International Council of Air Shows for 1989. He was presented with the annual Cliff Henderson Memorial Award for contributions to aviation for 1989 at the Ohio Hall of Fame.
Bob Hoover, in over fifty years of flying, has performed many thousands of times in more different types of aircraft, in more countries and before many more millions of people than any other pilot in the history of aviation.
At the bureau he is known as ‘Gentleman Bob’. He is a soft-spoken, honorable man, tall and lean, and he continues to amaze his peers and fans alike for the remarkable enthusiasm he still holds for flying as well as his management activities. His book Forever Flying (1996 Pocket Books) is an aviation must read.
The Plane
Like Bob Hoover, the Aero Commander is a classic. First introduced in 1968, versions of the all-metal aircraft were applied to business aviation, sport flying and training.
Rockwell Shrike Aero Commander
Length: 36 feet, 7 inches
Height: 14 feet, 6 inches
Wingspan: 49 feet, .5 inches
Gross Weight: 6,750 lbs.
Engine: Two 290 hp Lycoming IO-540-E1B5 six-cylinder horizontally opposed
Max speed: 215 mph
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