With both engines still stopped, he turned the plane to the right and taxied to a stop, right in front of thousands of cheering spectators.īob Hoover executed this air show routine in his Shrike Commander for almost 20 years. He touched down on the numbers, first on the left wheel, and then on the right wheel. As soon as he completed the roll, he made a 180-degree left turn to line up with the runway, kicking the rudder a few times to bleed off a little excess airspeed. As he pulled out at the bottom, he turned the yoke to the left, initiating a perfect eight-point roll. He immediately pulled aggressively on the yoke, not easing up until he was over the top of a loop. Satisfied with his line-up and speed, he reached down and, in quick succession, cut the mixtures and feathered both propellers. The bespectacled 70-year-old, dressed in a coat and tie, maneuvered his 1972 Shrike Commander to position himself over the runway.
