You don't know about Bob Hoover? Shame on you! No other aviator in the history of powered flight has done more or inspired so many. With the help of Harrison Ford, Bob tells his own story and shares, with his trademark charm, the hard earned wisdom of a life spent pushing the edge of the envelope.
The Bob Hoover Project is an independent documentary about Hoover's seven decade career as an aviator. The film also features a notable cast including Harrison Ford, Dick and Burt Rutan, Carroll Shelby, Gene Cernan, Medal of Honor Recipient Col. Bud Day, Clay Lacy, General Jack Dailey, and Sean D. Tucker.
Hoover approved the film January 2014, with the words "The film captures my life story in an authentic and accurate way. I don't know how it could have been done any better." A former airshow and Air Force test pilot, his accomplishments include escaping a WWII prison camp by stealing a German FW-190 and later flying spotter for Chuck Yeager when the Bell X-1 became the first supersonic airplane.
He became famous for his energy management demonstrations in a twin engine piston and jet business airplanes doing aerobatics that had been typically reserved for fighter planes at airshows across the United States. Now in his 90s he still knows how to fly upside down.
The film is the brainchild of director Kim Furst who became an aviation enthusiast after her work on the documentary One Six Right. After a night of dinner, drinks and storytelling with Bob and some of his fellow airshow and test pilots, Kim decided Hoover's story "deserved to be a big, glossy, elegant, dynamic feature length documentary."
Featured in film festivals across the country, including winning both the 2014 Grand Prize "Soldiers and Sacrifice Award" at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, and a special "Audience Award" at the Breckenridge Film Festival. It is now available on DVD and Blu Ray and you should watch it. Check out the trailer below.
Photo credit: AP
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