Aero Commander Forced Landing Hwy 50 Dayton NV 5 July 2024
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
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Thank you Sir for a great review of the incident. I was reading through the comments a bit and usually I do not comment, but wanted to add some insight and prevent speculations. But first I wanted to call out the real HEROS. The motorist that cleared HWY 50 for me to land there like the sea did for Moses. The FAA and NTSB for being helpful, nice and more than professional. The local Sheriff's office and NHP for managing the situation and finding ways to clear the site as quickly and savely as possible.
1. I was the PIC and the new owner was in the right seat. In the back was his CFI/MEI (not his wife).
2. I planned the flight and fuel consumption needed based on take-off time, present temp and density altidude. Which means adding 70 gallons to the 40.5 indicated by the JPI.
the 60+ year old annalog gauge indicated 90 Gallons fuel on board after adding 70 Gallons. I never trusted the old Gauge and had the JPI installed when I got the plane. I have a serious agenda staying alive for as long I can. I spend hours of flying adjusting the JPI K-Factor to a 0.5 Gallon/h accuracy. I keep constant watch on both JPI and annalog X-checking on every flight and after landing fill-up. We saw between 15-16 gallons ROP per side fuelburn during the flight. I know the annalog gauge shows roughly 20 Gallons less than the actuall amount due to the fact that I have more than 220 hours on that plane as PIC flying all over the western US.
3. Why we took only 70 Gallons? KCXP AWOS reported 80 degress and 6700 DA. 3 male adults 110 Gallons will give us reserve for take-off and landings to complete the mission safely.
4. After 4 pattern touch and goes at SIlversprings airport with the MEI in the right seat, the new owner took the right seat and we headed back to KCXP. Over Dayton (5 minutes out of KCXP) the JPI showed 40 minutes fuel remaining the annaloge gauge showed about 30 Gallons when the left enginge stopped running.
5. Neither Carson nor Dayon Airpark were an option due to airspeed, altitude and power reserve. I went for the impossible turn right into the "good" engine knowing HWY50 is a downslope and at the bottom i'll find a 5 lane wide stretch to land safely.
5. The Plane is still at Silversprings due to my findings. After filling the tanks with 100Gallons, the engins started right up but the left engine CHT for Cylinder #2 and #4 showed fluctuating readings between 300-540F (why, see findings).
6. The new owner loves the plane even more and can't wait to get it to NC, knowing that what ever happens a Shrike flown with respect will get you home... even at dead-stick.
7. No, I'm neither a Hero nor Bob Hoover I rather thank Talbot (my old CFI) and my MEI at Mach5 for hammering skills into my muscle memory. Still, thanks for the Hoover hat at the end of the vid if that was your intention.
8. At same point we had permission to fill her up and fly her out but in the age of social media it became to much of a widly known incident and plans got changed I think. Liability. In hinsight the right call since my findings below. What if #2 and #4 got demaged due to exessive LOP temps from fuel exhaustion and the temp reading were right?
Findings: The routing of the all wires from the Probes to the JPI have been installed right next to the exhaust manifold without heatsock/insulation. The wires got in contact with the exhaust, quintesentially melting insulation and grounding the probe wire providing false data to the JPI not just for the CHT. The JPI was installed by a well known avionics shop.
I hold JPI at the highest in regards of data accuracy and every plane I owned, had or will have it installed (from here on by myself since I plan to go Experimental. One can only trust himself). Probably cause for fuel exhaustion, false data provided from JPI instrument due to melted/grounded sensor wires.
" But first I wanted to call out the real HEROS. The motorist that cleared HWY 50 for me to land there like the sea did for Moses."
They're not heroes. They were trying to stay alive after you chose to endanger everyone of them.
You don't have to go experimental to do your own maintenance; you can get certified for that.
Every time I see a new video I think to myself: Here comes another lecture from Juan lol.
@@dfeuer Aircraft owners can do maintenance on their aircraft without certification. And I'm tired of being lectured by Juan, can you guys stop doing dum
Good decisons all the way when the problem occured. I am glad nobody were injured. Even reputed avionics shops can do mistakes. Which reminds me of the following story:
Some decades ago, a friend of me sent his GA-7 Cougar to a well known avionics shop to have an HSI and fluxvalve installed. Some dasys later, the owner returned, paid the bill and departed for his home airport. It was night. Some minutes later ATC asked him where he was heading. - Xxx airport, he said. - You are flying in the opposite direction, ATC replied. My friend asked for radar vectors back to the departure airport for an ILS approach. When the landing gear was lowered, the HSI turned 180 degrees and showed correct heading. The avioics shop had installed the fluxvalve in the nose cone, but the nose gear leg was not de-magnetized. When retracted, the nose gear leg came to a position close to the sensitive fluxvalve. The avionics shop moved the fuxvalve to the empenage, and everybody were happy. I got my multi-engine rating in that machine.
When I was a Civil Air Patrol Cadet in the late 70's I was fortunate to be working at an airshow that Bob Hoover was flying at. He had his yellow P-51 and an Aero Commander. After Bob was done flying his P-51, about 5 of us cadets got the honor of washing his P-51. I actually got to sit in the cockpit and clean the inside of the canopy. But this was not best part. Bob then loaded up the 5 of us into his Aero Commander and proceeded to give us the ride of our lives. Probably would not happen today, but damn I cherish that memory.
Ah - did you join that exclusive club "Hoover's Heavers"?
@@skcalanderson Many fond memories of my CAP days too but nothing like that 👍
Awesome memory. Thanks for sharing! Bob Hoover was a genuine good human. Meeting him in person was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experiece that I will cherish.
Got to see him at Miamar NAS around 1973-74. He did a show with a pitcher of tea on the dash, didn't spill a drop. Then he did the p-51 routine. Gread day it was.
I was in CAP in the early 70's. Minnesota Wing, Fridley Composit Squadron. I was the squadron commander for a while at Lt. Col.
Thanks for the intro to Bob Hoover. Just read how he escaped from occupied France c.1944 by stealing a Nazi plane and flying across to Holland. Amazing man!
Find the documentary, "Flying the Feathered Edge". You're in for a treat.
I saw Hoover do a lot of amazing things at airshows over the years, including this "energy management series".
Order his book “Forever Flying”. Get the hardback. I’ve read it every few years. I met him and Oshkosh and here in Torrance for book signing. I had goose bumps both times I spoke with him. A real gentleman
@@curtbowers7817 I met him all casual like at an airshow, I had no frigging idea who I was talking to, just struck up a conversation with the old boy standing in the tent, what a thrill, in retrospect, just a modest regular guy, who flew like an angel!
I really appreciate you covering non-fatal accidents like this one.
Obviously an important factor leading to a safe outcome here was avoiding vehicles. Makes me wonder what is the better strategy: landing against traffic or with it? Against traffic any collision will be much more serious but it gives vehicles a chance to see you coming and swerve out of the way, whereas going with the flow you'll come up above and behind them where they can't see you.
The bob Hoover school of energy management
Can you imagine Bob Hoover taking the CPL checkride? DPE: "Alight, let's do a power off 180, I've just failed your engine AND OH MY GOD WHY ARE WE INVERTED?!"
Now that is FUNNY!
I live in Reno. I have a friend who lives in Dayton. He happened to be on Highway 50 at the time, and shared a video of the tow. They hooked the nose gear like at any other time at any given airport, then used a small semi/large RV tow vehicle to just pull the bird down the road with a police escort.
Bob Hover was probably one of the number one inspirations for everyone in aviation.
Bob Hoover was the undisputed world champion of energy management. A joy to watch.
I believe the best thing this crew did was to skip the denial phase and face the fact of having made a bad boo-boo, and then to get on with it to salvage the situation admirably.
I've had to dead-stick it 2 times in my 50+ year career, once due to a similar boo-boo (rely on WW2-era fuel gauges) and once due to mechanical failure. I was thought from the beginning to always plan for the worst all the time. I always did - and it bloody well worked both times!
"Always take off with full fuel" EXCELLENT ADVICE!!! - 18 years and 2200 hours in the beloved Baron BE-55. The 5th and 6th seats came out as soon as I got her. When I bought her the fuel gauges were trash. I got 'em "fixed" but only once did I take off with less than full fuel. And I remember that occasion.
Smart.
Excellent advice, rarely used and not always practical. The the airlines aren’t filling their planes full every time. And in a few cases some GA guys are loaded too heavy when full of fuel.
Even on hot/high/heavy days? Never flown a Baron, but used to fly C90s and always took the conditions into account.
Well, always take off with maximum possible fuel whilst keeping W&B in mind.
“Always take off with full fuel” is great advice when you have plenty of power or a turbocharged engine.
It’s absolutely not practical in a lot of circumstances.
I saw Bob perform at the Reading, PA airshow in June 1973. He had just landed in JFK after coming back from The Farnborough, England airshow and was scheduled to put on a show in Reading. Both Ole Yeller and the Shrike Commander were on site but Bob was in New York about 700 miles away. The Blue Angels #6 flew off in his F4 to JFK and returned with Bob who then, in his business suit put on a spectacular show. Bob you were the best of the best.
I lived right on the approach for Runway 36 at RDG. 1973 was the first year the Blues flew F4's. OMG when that diamond formation came barrelling over the house it would give you chills.
My saddest experience at the Reading Air Show (which at the time was the largest civilian airshow outside of Paris) was in 1969 when Dick Schram augered in. Schram traveled with the Blues, and always borrowed a Cub to perform his act as "The Flying Professor". He was finishing a loop when (at least, as the sory went) he was pulling back on the stick and the stick detached. The saddest part was his son was the Blues public address announcer, and was narrating his dad's last show. Gut wrenching.
How any human being could be so despicable as to wish a fellow aviator auger in (as did that moron earlier in the thread) stupifies me.
My father and me had a close call in a Cessna 337 due to fuel starvation we purchased from a crusty, retired airline pilot and AI. As part of the sales negotiations he said that he just filled all four tanks with fuel that morning and demanded more money for the fuel.
Seeing all 4 fuel gauges at "full" and taking a friend and professional pilot/mechanic's word, I never checked to confirm the tanks were full. I did get a bit of water from the sump drains near the tail boom wing struts and front engine strainer, and we departed for our first flight in the Skymaster to Spokane. On take-off the old Skymaster accelerated and climbed quickly at about 160mph indicated and nearly 1,000fpm, my dad remarked: "This thing's a Hot-Rod!" but only a few miles northeast of the Salem airport (SLE) at about 2000ft we started to experience fuel flow fluctuations on the front engine. I hit the front boost pump which stabilized the fuel flow but only for a few seconds until the front engine quit completely. My father tapped the fuel gauges that were still showing "Full" as I switched the windmilling front engine to it's aux tank, and after about 20 seconds it roared back to climb power for about a minute and then quit dead.
We were just south of the Aurora airport along I-5 so I made a bee-line for I-5 and the airport and switched the front engine from its 'Left Main' tank to 'Cross-Feed' from the Right Main tank for the rear engine, and in a few seconds both front and rear engine fuel flow began to fluctuate and quit simultaneously!. At that moment we both came to a harsh realization it was not water contamination we were dealing with. We both looked a each other and exclaimed: "WE'RE OUT OF FUEL!".
I switched the rear engine to its Right Aux tank, and in about 20 seconds the rear engine came back to life. I feathered the front engine and jogged over I-5 and prepped for a landing on the freeway, but the rear engine remained running long enough to get us close enough to the Aurora airport I figured I could glide to runway so I jogged back over to the runway for a downwind landing on 34, but just as lined-up with the runway the rear engine quit again. I feathered the rear engine and advised I was making an emergency dead-stick downwind landing on 34.
The 337 we just bought was an early model with only one landing gear hydraulic pump on the front engine, so with the front engine feathered, the gear had to be manually pumped down, I placed the gear selector 'down' position and the big gear doors flew open and the mains fell into the high-drag trailing position. My dad said 'YOU FLY THIS SOB, I'LL PUMP THE GEAR!" but with his left arm in a cast from falling from his horse, he clumsily tried pumping the gear handle between the front seats with his right arm from the right seat. With the end of the runway approaching and my dad's struggle with the pump handle was not going to get the gear down in time, I moved the prop control out of feather to try to get it windmilling, and I saw the frozen, feathered prop blade rubberly snap into the flat pitch position (I had just discovered the 337 happened to have the rare un-feathering accumulators). I hit the front starter to get the prop windmilling and in a few seconds the engine-driven hydraulic pump along with my father's hap-hazard pumping finished extended the gear, at which point I re-fethered the front engine.
By then I ended up a bit low on approach but just made the numbers. With both props feathered we coasted to a stop just short of the mid-field taxiway turn-off, with all 4 fuel indicators still indicating 'F' for "FULL-FUEL" (plus a little more). I switched both engines back to main tanks and was able to get enough fuel to get the front engine started to get us off the runway and to the the fuel pump.
When I called the seller and grilled him about lying about the fuel he laughed and said: "Well you Dumb-A_ _es let that lesson to you and your old man, you should have checked the fuel! Lucky for you I didn't leave ya MORE Fuel or you'd be out in the mountains right now! Never take anybody's word for anything, HA HA!"
well, he was right, even though he was an ass-hat
@@user-xh2so8ef3o Yup... Lesson hammered.
@@user-xh2so8ef3o Yup, Lesson hammered home.
That's total BS. Had he actually been "teaching you a lesson", he would have waited until you were walking out to take off, then beat you over the head about taking someone's word. Worse, he knowingly sold you an aircraft that had defective fuel gauges and didn't say anything?!
Thanks for the story. Mine was a repair issue, but I think the seller told me what someone had told him. Engine mount repair supposedly had an internal sleeve, but nope. No emergency, just an annoyance.
There are 3 wastes in aviation. 1. Runway behind you 2. Elevation above you 3. FUEL LEFT IN THE TRUCK
…. remembering there are only two occasions when you can have too much fuel:
1. When the aircraft is on fire
2. When the aircraft is too heavy to take off
As much as I want to point the finger at the pilot and go, "how could you have possibly done this?!?", I also know that pilot could have been me. So far I've not done this yet... key word being yet.
Sounds like the old fuel oem gauge was the accurate one, go figure.
Thats elevation in "front" of you.
Amd #4 always ise cross feed or timer for tank switching per that particular aircraft operator handbook.
Literally the only Commander/Shrike I've ever seen fly was Bob Hoover at the Point Mugu airshow! So, I don't think I've ever seen one land with the engines running, lol.
Bob Hoovers performance is always 10/10. It’s one of those things that always puts a smile on my face.
Past tense. He lived until 2016, but fortunately there are still videos out there.
There will never be another Bob Hoover. I saw him perform many times when I was young. (Along with Art Shull)
Lucky you! I never got to the US in time to catch him in action.
The FAA has made sure of that. I recall they tried multiple times to take his license or medical.
@@bw162 Two clowns of FAA inspectors decided that, not sure why, in 1997. The Australian flight authorities immediately gave him a medical and license. He eventually got his medical back, but gave up air shows when he couldn't get affordable insurance. ($2 million per show!) in 1999. at 77 years old.
Thanks for the update Juan. Good to hear they did not have to take the wings off and trailer it out.
Imagine being forced to allow a demolition company to cut off the wings, get the plane on a trailer and get the road open due to traffic being backed up for miles.
they move massive loads on that hiway all the time to keep them off the interstate--to move,tow it only 12 miles,easy--it would have been fun to see it take off on hiway
Ridiculous that they couldn’t block the highway for a departure. A twelve mile tow definitely was more of a highway delay.
@@russbell6418 Agreed, but I have seen a highway departure end in a crash (on YT), so it's possible there is now a "hard & fast" rule, no more highway departures, regardless of the shape the aircraft is in.
@@russbell6418 They didn't want to risk it. Lower risk option to tow it the short distance to the runway and fuel depot.
Great tip of the hat to Hoover...saw that act at Reno in 86. Looked exactly the same then.
Great Bob Hoover clip
But you are wrong about fuel gages only have to accurate at zero useable fuel.this is a common error assumption about the regs.
I saw the pane and thought of Bob. Then you showed Bob. His ideas of energy management taught me allot and allowed me to think outside the box in off checklist scenarios.
Bob Hoover understood "the law of the roller coaster" from Stick and Rudder.
Well, well, well! I might have something to add to all of this. About 25 years ago, I was returning from the Bahamas with my family from the Bahamas in our 1959 Aero Commander 680. I had spent many an air show watching Bob Hoover do his magic in his Shrike in the '70's, too at my university airport as well. (KCMI)
I personally filled the airplane to the point of fuel sloshing out of all tanks before departure from Vero. A fuel stop was planned at Mobile for the return to Houston (KHOU), our base. Enroute, we were experiencing substantial tailwinds, (unusual for that direction of flight), and broke out the calculators to determine our reserves if we skipped the stop. The weather was pristine CAVU, and forecast to stay that was for the remainder of the flight that Sunday afternoon. Multiple calculations, based on our fuel burn learned from long experience, said we'd arrive in Houston with 45 minutes in the tanks, so we amended our flight plan, got the amended clearance and carried on.
As we joined the conga line to RWY 4, the right engine sputtered, and quit. Boost pumps on and it relit. Wheew! Weird, but... Then the left engine did the same thing, relit monentarily with the boost pump on, and then both engines up and quit. We were descending to 3000' maybe 3-4 miles south of the airport. The tower immediately cleared us to land on any runway, and we turned to RWY 35. The view was not good. Making the runway with the engines windmilling was going to be a dirt sandwich. For a flash I remembered Bob Hoover doing his crazy shit in his Shrike. So I feathered both engines. The result was amazing! It was like massive kick in the backside. The glide flattened, as I held about 110 MPH, (my best guess at best engine-out glide speed with both mills feathered?!?), and in maybe 20 seconds, I knew we had the runway made. After, and frantically pumping the hydraulic pump for pressure for steering and brakes, I lowered the gear with the runway assured, and touched down. We exited the high speed to the left, rolled into Continental's old maintenance hanger ramp and stopped.
I immediately called the tower, thanked them, and called the fuel truck. The airplane took (as I recall) about 140 gallons to brimming. The placarded capacity was (best of my recollection), was something like 168 gallons usable. During the incident, the collector tank gauge read about 20 gallons. So two issues had conspired here. First, on examination of the aircraft, two fuel bladders were collapsed. This reduced the fuel capacity. Second, (and incidental) was the float arm in the center tank was bent, causing the gauge error. Next items of business were to drive to the tower than thank the guys in person, and then to drive home and fill out the NASA form! (Still accessible on-line, I'd add!). Yeah - there was a mini investigation. The FAA was great, and actually congratulatory. (Not sure if that would be the rule today, but maybe it is.)
Anyway, lots of lessons learned that day. Probably the one that saved our bacon was one from the great Bob Hoover, all those years ago. Thanks for this video, Juan. Lots of memories! Wow. Just wow.
You know you've made it when after stuffing up, pilots just message you directly because of the inevitable Blancolirio coverage!
I saw Hoover do this at the ERAU Daytona Beach air show. It was after the FAA pulled his medical and he wanted to prove he could still do it. FAA was there watching and we were treated to one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. Bob Hoover was incredible. I will NEVER forget it. All we could hear was the soft swoosh of the air over his wings.
Hoover had more skill and knowledge about energy management than a hundred FAA safety inspectors, combined. His best competitor would be a bald eagle or hawk.
@@SkyhawkFlyer absolutely! I wouldn’t have believed it if I had not seen it.
One of my life's regrets is... flew into Oskosh with my 11 year old daughter, camped with the plane... waiting to ride the Ford Trimotor.. sat at a picnic table with just my daughter and an older gentleman.. the old guy had a small stack of books he was selling.. tan, weathered face, wearing a straw hat... had no idea who he was and I didn't strike up a conversation. My Loss. The only saving grace was at the Tri motor stood Chuck Yeager.. got to chat with him and introduced him to my daughter, she was very unimpressed!
Wow, seated with Bob Hoover! And daughter totally unimpressed by Chuck Yeager lol. I saw Bob Hoover perform at Oshkosh in about 1977. I couldn't believe what he made that plane do.
Then one night my dad said " let's go see Paul Harvey give a speech". I said Paul who? The look of disgust on my father's face for not knowing who Paul Harvey was 😮!!! But hey, I was only 17 😂. Dang I miss my dad.
Love the tri motor rides & also Yeager quite a character. Read his books. Flew with Hoover to Reno .
Saw Bob Hoover perform at the Miramar Airshow once, absolutely the most amazing energy management ever ... he stole the show for me.
'Fly into a crash as far as possible' is one of my favorite aviationisms.
What percentage of planes have a manual reserve fuel switch?
The old VWs had the switch at the center of the firewall inside the cabin. You flipped it to shift to the lower intake in the solitary fuel tank.
It worked -- IF you didn't forget to switch back to the upper pickup once you fill up after flipping the switch.
My old Kawasaki stand-up jetski had a reserve fuel switch. Saved my bacon a few times. Of course it wasn't used like in aviation and we relied on using up some of the reserve on purpose when we were within a reasonable distance from home, but still it was a great idea to have and surely it saved more novice riders then hurt them.
I took my retired pilot Dad to the 1996 Reno Air Races as a surprise trip (best daughter ever right?).
We saw Bob Hoover and my father a retired AF Lt. Col with C-130 and initial cadre to the C-5, was in awe of Bob’s skill. My dad thought him a fool that day bc of the wind! I’ve never seen this footage - Thanks
No you didn’t, pornbot
Great video Juan. And I love Aero Commanders. Used to fly a 500B. My uncle flew them for Red Wing Shoe Company -- got me hooked. He had a fuel exhaustion experience -- with the boss on board. Turned out: Main (center) fuel tank had a rubber bladder. It partially collapsed -- showing full fuel indicated but not carrying the full amount. Was before the JPI days -- but might have played a role in this situation.
Beautiful planes -- nothing flies better. And -- I went to a party or two with Bob Hoover. No one like Bob Hoover!
When I was a kid in South Florida, if you saw an Aero Commander landing on a highway, you just kept on going, and saw nothing.
Sound policy.
I wonder how many people get this comment. I started flying in South Florida in 1976 I know exactly what you are talking about!
I'm from Miami, and know what you're talking about, lol.
Drugs
"Save the Bales!"
As a young pilot,I met Mr. Hoover many years ago at the Cleveland, Ohio air show. We had a great conversation after his flight demonstration. Great pilot and man! Still have the autographed air show pamphlet.
Back in the 70's, the Aero Commander was my favourite plane. I remember Bob Hoover very well!
Juan, you do such a great job on these incidents! Thanks for the complete and understandable analysis!
Whenever I hear or read, "Aero Commander", I think of Bob. I'm glad you mentioned him and shared the video clip. I got to see him fly for the crowd at Hobby Field, Creswell, around 1987.
Speaking of having to get a plane towed off a highway, I recall someone had to land on I-15 somewhere near a small airstrip north or south of Ogden in the 20-teens. Apparently, he didn't want to pay for the tow and decided to sneak out in the wee hours the next morning and illegally fly out.
He wasn't so successful at not being unnoticed by the Highway Patrol.
A friend of mine who lives near Dayton watched this happen, and posted a blurry image to Facebook.. . Lol.
Were Bob Hoover flying it, he would have made it to Carson City airport!!
All joking aside, I'm glad this ended with zero loss of life and damage to this beautiful aircraft.
Bob Hoover's Shrike Commander was mis-fueled with Jet A one time, when an inexperienced line boy saw "turbo" on the nacelle and mistook it for a turbine airplane. His engines quit on take-off. We joked that he must have had a Pavlovian response to do an eight point slow roll before he landed.
@@LLH7202 The rest of the story is that he crash landed his Aero Commander, got back to the airport, borrowed another one that was on the field and had to put fuel in it. He requested the SAME line boy saying, "I doubt he will ever make the same mistake again." Then Bob did the usual show routine with his extraordinary skills.
@@i.r.wayright1457 What's really amazing is that everybody walked from that crash into a canyon. His crash procedure at that exact airport was played over and over in his mind until it actually happened. He was truely the best stick-and-rudder pilot.
I watched Bob Hoover perform his energy management routine and fell in love with the Aero Commander, such an interesting and beautiful design, whether in the air or sitting on its gear it just keeps you looking at it. Cheers and good luck.
I grew up with your understanding of when a fuel gauge needs to be accurate. That changed in 2017. In 2017, FAR 23 was rewritten, eliminating that wording of "empty". The new FAR 23.2430 says that fuel systems must provide the flightcrew with a means to determine the total usable fuel available.
When I was a bit too young to be allowed to fly out of Yomitan Aero Club on Okinawa my father (Instructor) would take me up as much as I wanted, but I had to preflight the aircraft. One of his rules was that we never trusted the fuel gages or even the ground crew, we always dipped the tanks before and after the flight. This went into the aircraft log each time. If my father ever caught any of his students preflighting without dipping the tanks, he would pull their permit right on the spot until they attended his next lecture. Dad got into trouble once when some Colonel saw me flying a Cub out of the Okuma strip solo, and had to appear before the Kadena Base Commander. Dad just explained that he taught me to fly so that if he was ever incapacitated during a flight I could bring them both home alive. The case was dismissed, and the Colonel was given the lecture about the difference between the intent of the law versus the letter of the law. From then on I was allowed to fly circuit solo as long as there was an instructor on site.
Your dad sounds like a great guy and father. You my friend sound like you were one pampered kid growing up, not envious just saying.
Takeoffs are optional.Landings are mandatory!
Having installed many JP Instrument fuel flow's it is vary important to do the calibration chart in the manual.
I'm pretty sure that I was at that 1996 show. Or if not, I definitely saw Bob Hoover fly that routine at Reno. Man, it was amazing. I feel so fortunate to have seen him fly and met him in person.
My dad had an engine failure in a Navion. Landed on Loup Loup Highway in Washington at dusk. He also flew the Aero Commander. Very lucky but also a great smokejumper pilot. Glad everyone and the plane were ok. Thanks for the excellent report!
in the 1980's i owned and flew N708M, the Shrike Bob had used for air shows in Europe. I bought the ship from Larry and Bob Byerly, owners of Byerly Aviation, a Commander dealership in Peoria, Illinois. They were good friends with Bob Hoover.
I did my multi check ride with an examiner at Rockford, Illinois. We did an engine out sequence with an engine off and a full feathering of the prop. I could then restart the engine by activating a small micro-switch on the side of the throttle that would power up a pump, un-feather the prop and re-fire the engine all without using the starter, an interesting addition by Hoover to use if necessary during an airshow. However, not being Bob Hoover, I only demonstrated this at 10,000 feet while right over the airport. I am convinced to this day that the Shrike is one of the safest ships in the sky.
In the late 1950's, the Aero-Commander Company sold a 500 series to the Secret Service as a backup for Ike after demonstrating the crazy capability of the aircraft by removing one of the props, taking off single engine and flying to Washington, D.C. That plane is in the Wright-Patterson Museum in the hanger annex on the far side of the field with other presidential aircraft. Not as fast as most big twins but a whole lot safer.
Congratulations to a good pilot who saved three people and a wonderful flying machine. Now, let that be a lesson and don't repeat your error.
All the best.
I took my retired pilot Dad to the 1996 Reno Air Races as a surprise trip (best daughter ever right?).
We saw Bob Hoover and my father a retired AF Lt. Col with C-130 and initial cadre to the C-5, was in awe of Bob’s skill. My dad thought him a fool that day bc of the wind! I’ve never seen this footage - Thanks!
I read a biography of Hoover in Flying magazine around 1973 or 1974 in which he stated he failed his eye test to become a pilot (I think due to astigmatism) and he pleaded with the eye doctor not to fail him because he wanted to be a flyer. The doc told him he'd give him a few minutes to memorize the eye chart and take the test again and from then on, for Hoover to tell any future eye docs who wanted to test him that he got hives when his eyes were dilated and they wouldn't discover his astigmatism. If I recall correctly.
I was fortunate to see him do his shows with the Commander and P-51 in 1983, he was a brilliant flyer.
Bob Hoover was all about 'energy management' when flying either his Commander or his P-51. Saw him at two air shows in the '70's, and that is what he said to the crowd years ago! He was a hero to me!
There used to be an areo commander sitting in our local hanger, i fell in love with this plane some 50yrs ago. Then Bob Hoover did his thing in it, and i became hooked. Then we have a turbo commander sitting at our air attack base.
Great video on a happy ending incident with a great lesson.
The Bob Hoover demo is absolutely brilliant and quite scary! What a masterful pilot. Awesome.
Love a happy highway landing!
This is why I never stop scanning my rear view mirrors. You never know when you might see an aircraft needing you to yield
Good point and I do the very same thing.
Yes, and the flying object appearing in your mirrors may be larger than you think, so make sure your blinker fluid is full and you can lane change quickly and safely! 😁
Maybe not full tanks for those of us flying modest aircraft, especially in the summer and high elevation, but point taken. Have as much gas as is safe.
I prefer to stick the tanks to visually establish fuel level when full tanks are not practical.
Thanks for the great review and enjoyed the segment on Bob Hoover. I first saw him the summer of '73 at the Abbotsford Air Show in BC Canada. I had a summer job in Ferndale, WA just south of the boarder and had just received my private license that spring. I've seen his Aero Commander routine several times and it never did cease to amaze. Later in my engineering carrier, I worked at a legacy Gulf Stream facility in Bethany, OK. I understand that the Aero Commander originated at that facility.
Thanks for the Bob Hoover segment, brings back the memory when I saw him perform that same stunt years ago. Amazing! Bravo to the skill of that pilot for getting that plane and out of what could have been another fatal accident.
Required equipment. Part 91.205 (b) (9) Fuel gauge indicating the quantity of fuel in each tank.
The quote from part 23.1337(b)(1) requires that "Each fuel quantity indicator must be calibrated to read “zero” during level flight when the quantity of fuel remaining in the tank is equal to the unusable fuel supply determined under § 23.959(a).
If you fly with gauges that do not indicate the quantity in each tank you are in violation.
This airplane failed both part 91 and part 23. These gauges need to be repaired before next flight.
I saw Hoover in AZ in the early 60s. Unless I'm nuts, one of his touch and goes wasn't just on one wheel - it was on the nose wheel.
Amazing sight.
And the Commander's been my favorite plane for over 50 years.
Always got Direct, Short and Sweet, Factual advice from Bob. Best Stick and Rudder Man that ever Flew, IMHO. RIP Bob.😃
I was fortunate to see RA Bob Hoover many times when I was younger,fantastic show always
I miss Bob Hoover dearly. Saw him at least 6 times pulling that off in his Shrike Commander. Mustang first.
My boss used to fly the commander to air shows & then narrate Hoovers shows. I turned the copy of his narration notes over to the SETP office .
Too bad no one can reproduce the show.
Great reporting as usual. Lucky enough to be one of those "old" enough to see Mr. Hoover several times and always awe-struck. Man, those of us in the Aviation Industry are privileged sort.
In my early flying days I was practicing and sightseeing. I suddenly looked at my fuel gauges and realized I was very low on fuel. I made it back to the airport, topped the tanks, and didn’t mention the situation to the FBO. He never said anything about the fuel slip quantity. Lesson learned. Bob Hoover was the best. “Trade altitude for airspeed “.
I remember Bob Hoover demonstrating absolute control by placing a glass of water on the instrument cowl, doing his thing, and never losing a drop. He flew like the ball was welded in place.
I used to fly a Super Cub that had the fuel level sight glasses in the wing root. I liked that system a lot. Simple and 100% reliable under all conditions.
The Commander is one heck of an airplane. I was fortunate to see Bob perform at Reno in the late 70’s.
I saw Bob Hoover perform many times when I was a young man, particularly in the 90s when they put on a big airshow at Lincoln airport. All I wanted to see was the Blue Angels and all of the other military aircraft. I am ashamed to say that I didn't appreciate Mr. Hoover very much then. But I sure do now. The story of him escaping the POW camp and stealing the German fighter.. incredible! And even more incredible that he performed well into his golden years. A true American legend
Well, did the owner close the sale? Afterall, he did successfully demo an emergency landing in the Shrike.
I lost an Uncle (pilot) and aunt to an accident in a Turbo Commander years ago. But to this day I've always thought of these planes as gorgeous looking aircraft. And this is just one of a number of Commander videos that show their abilities. Nice to see this outcome gave this one a second chance to fly again.
They were so lucky that the traffic was paying attention as that is unusual in these times.
Thanks for showing the Bob Hoover video!
A combination of skills and luck that resulted in a positive outcome. Not the rule but the exception!
I recall seeing Bob Hoover at Kalamazoo, MI. in 1988. I saw the great handling (by the best stick and rudder man ever) of the Aero Commander series plane. It is still my favorite General aviation plane. Thank you Juan for sharing, and I'm sure glad this ended well for all involved!
Isn’t it curious? The first thought that hit me was “ Bob Hoover would be smiling down”.
Was lucky enough to see him do his thing in Australia back in the 90’s and got to shake his hand.
The silence of the crowd during his engine -off routine . There were approx 50 thousand aviation tragics on the field that day.
Cheers from Downunder👍🇦🇺🇺🇸
Back in the last century Bob Hoover came to our OV-10 squadron and borrowed one for a demo of some sort up in Los Angeles. He said he hadn't flown one in a while and wanted to take a quick hop to get the feel for it again. When he took off he did his signature 8 point roll !! Amazing man!
I can’t even begin to think how many times I saw ole Bob Hoover and his air show. I was very fortunate to meet him several times at those shows, a true legend of aviation. Just like Juan !!! Well kinda. lol
Man that shrike driver was lucky, for so many reasons. The most important part here, he got it down safely, no one was hurt and the plane was able to fly again.
I wonder if he had to call AAA to get a tow ?
Thanks Juan
And Bob Hoover literally could pour iced tea while inverted and not spill a drop. Even his friend Chuck Yeager was highly impressed with Hoover's natural talent for aviating.
Bob Hoover was helping out, just showing how amazing Aero Commander are. Wow, that was some special pre-purchase inspection.
Early in my career I learned the importance of full fuel tanks, and gauges. It was...fill the tanks and wash the wings. I flew many twins including the Aero Commander, and the Aerostar, a Ted Smith design. Both had fueling, and gauge issues. This is why we do a cross check of fueling quantity with the upload of gallons from the fuel truck for jet transports. If the numbers don't match, then solve the problem before flight on the ground.
saw Bob doing one wheel landings in his P-51 at Travis open house or whatever it was called in 68 or so, pop was AF, C-141s. met him in person at Sun and Fun one year
If the temperature of the aviation gas is 85 degrees at the time it is put into the aircraft, the fuel tank has less BTU value then if the fuel temperature is 55 degrees. You are so right about the fuel burn being higher in very warm temperatures.
I was doing a scenic local drive and drove by this aircraft on highway 50 about 30 minutes after it landed. Considering the pilot only had about 3/4 a mile of straight road, with a steep sloping down gradient and curve behind and a curve in front, they did a great job touching down without injury.
One more time you remind me how wonderful it would be to be 😀your student you are just like my very first instructor and it has been 44 years since than and I still remember everything he told me, you are two in a million.🏆🏅🎖
I noticed he put it down without damage. Good job. I had thought it was a Shrike, but with all his mods it looks like one. Even though it's the older model.
I'm sure all of those 'touch & go's probably burned a lot of fuel on the takeoffs... Probably also a contributing factor.
Yes, I have also seen Bob Hoover perform his 'Energy Management' demonstration many times at airshows across the country. I was in the first row at the screening at the "Flying the Feathered Edge" movie at the NMUSAF (US Air Force Museum), with commentary from Bob, and got my copy of the book autographed...
SO IMPRESSED Juan that you know of Pyramid's lunker cutthroat.
Never cease to amaze.
Thanks for the report
Thanks for the great coverage as always Juan! Waving from Carson City!
Awesome throwback to Bob Hoover. My Dad took me to Oshkosh I'm thinking about 1968 - 1970 and I saw his show.
If I had 1 percent of the airmanship of B.H. I would consider myself an outstanding pilot. It's beyond fathomable what a complete unit he became with an aircraft, like a mind meld.
I used to live quite close to this area. Its at the far northern end of Lyon county. Dayton has a Sheriff's Office substation. I imagine things were jumping, when the call came in.
Heading west out of Dayton, Hwy 50 climbs, then levels out. There's a turnoff on the right (to the north) for Silver City and Virginia City, and then a bit further west on Hwy 50, a built up area called Mound House.
After that, Hwy 50 dips down into Carson City. The pilot had good luck, in a way. He picked
a spot without obstructions, buildings, or intersections. I'm a bit surprised that the Nevada troopers wouldn't let him refuel and take off, right from that location. Great good fortune that vehicles moved out of his way, creating an impromptu runway to let him land.
It is a pleasure to watch your videos and observe your experience and wisdom with aircraft. Thanks.
Never met Bob, but two friends did and said what a great guy he was. However… I took my multi engine check ride from a friend of Bob’s, who flew for the airlines and would fly his Commander to air shows where Bob was performing. He was sitting in the right seat when Bob landed at Dulles and taxied his Commander over to the museum (where it is today), with the cameras clicking. I still think about some of the second hand Hoover advice I got on the orals and the check ride. Do I wish I’d met Hoover? Oh yeah.
In 1972 or 73 I was a teenager. My dad and I flew his Cherokee Arrow to Miami and stayed at the Playboy Hotel. We attended the Miami Air Races and shows at the Tamiami Airport. Bob Hoover's show was my favorite part of the entire day. I've been an Aero Commander fan ever since. Thanks for this memory, Juan.
Thanks Juan for covering this one. Its nice that no one was hurt and no damage to the beautiful bird. It was a great touch to add the video on Hoover’s power off routine. I’ve watched him fly at air shows on most of the stateside bases I was stationed. I believe one of the last times was at Tyndall AFB in the 70’s on the practice Friday before the weekend show. I had just got back from a sortie before it started. It seemed like he really put everything in it that afternoon. What a great pilot.
I have watched Hoover's energy management routine at Reno and met him at a talk at the Creswell airport many years ago. I thought of him reading the title of the video. Glad the pilot in this incident found a way out of it.
Saw Mr. Hoover many a times growing up flying both his Commander and P-51. Also remember the USFS Aero Commander that crashed on take-off from Bishop after stopping for fuel. Seems the fuel guy at Bishop Airport filled it with jet fuel instead of av-gas. He had been used to filling the only Commander that lived at Bishop, that happened to be a turbine engine one.
I remember the airplane brought back to the airport, you could turn the props easily by hand (no compression). Seems there was just enough av-gas in the system to start, taxi, run-up, and takeoff before the jet fuel hit and burnt the rings right out if the engine. Fortunately the pilot didn't try and turn back and just belly landed in the sage brush and sand south of the airport.
Another add to the legend. I remember watching one of these at a show at Abbotsford in maybe 1967, as a young feller me lad.
I saw Bob Hoover twice do his no engine loop, roll landing. So cool.
I was fortunate to watch Bob Hoover performing his engine-out acro routine when he came down to Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the 70s. Very impressive stuff.
Watching from Tokyo …. thanks for sharing Juan. A very fortunate highway landing without injury or damage, indeed! A aircraft landing on an expressway here in Japan would probably yield catastrophic results due to traffic congestion, narrow road shoulders, and reinforced center road dividers leaving traffic little room to maneuver. The pilot did a great job landing that plane.
Wow!...and no one got hurt, good stuff. I really appreciated that piece 'Flying on the Feathered Edge'...it'd make a great title for a book, a film, a poem, a hymn....you name it, it's one hellava brave approach of getting through any tight spot in life general. love it!
Bob Hoover's INSANE control of momentum.
awesome job love the out come!
Funny watching this and a surprise to see Bob Hoover's plane in this drop. Just saw Bob's plane at the Udvar Hazy Museum at Dulles a few weeks ago, told my wife "I saw that plane and Hover perform at Reno! Glad everyone walked away from the of field landing in NV, good pilot (except for the fuel starvation issue!)
I work for a small insurance brokerage whose principal owned an Aero commander. It was a really great machine, stable, large capacity, easy to fly and dependable. We used to fly from West Palm Beach to Key West so I could go down to the office there once a month. It was a real pleasure and let me take the stick several times and I thought it was a real joy.
One of my favorite planes; first flew one in the Bahamas in the early 1970's, loved it instantly. Lucky landing when traffic was light and yielded to them. Made the correct decision to land immediately. Thanks for sharing; great to have the right info.
Great flying for both pilots on both aircraft. Bad day for a demo flight.