Aero Commander Forced Landing Hwy 50 Dayton NV 5 July 2024

[@skcalanderson]

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.

[@Britcarjunkie]

Ah - did you join that exclusive club "Hoover's Heavers"?

[@DrJohn493]

@@skcalanderson Many fond memories of my CAP days too but nothing like that 👍

[@SeanHollingsworth]

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.

[@duaneharnes]

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.

[@jackfrost3573]

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.

[@hansuhlig8565]

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.

[@dfeuer]

You don't have to go experimental to do your own maintenance; you can get certified for that.

[@KeithKnoesel]

Every time I see a new video I think to myself: Here comes another lecture from Juan lol.

[@KeithKnoesel]

@@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

[@FlywithMagnar]

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.

[@JasonSpasoff]

@foghornleghorn8536 What would you prefer he had done?

[@Chainsaw-ASMR]

I really appreciate you covering non-fatal accidents like this one.

[@somealias-zs1bw]

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.

[@nickdawson9270]

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!

[@CraigGood]

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".

[@RVPilot-d7g]

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

[@portnuefflyer]

@@RVPilot-d7g 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!

[@donny526]

The bob Hoover school of energy management

[@Halli50]

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!

[@jamiesuejeffery]

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.

[@eddieraffs5909]

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.

[@quackbury9413]

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.

[@bigjeff1291]

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.

[@cablerbergschneider8541]

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.

[@MikeKobb]

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.

[@pplusbthrust]

Bob Hover was probably one of the number one inspirations for everyone in aviation.

[@eugeneanderson8289]

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.

[@Erik-rp1hi]

Bob Hoover was base here at my airport in his older years. Torrance or Zamperini Field. He lived in Palos Verdes. I worked a Hi Shear back then which is right across from 29R. He had a P51 back then, no one else had a war bird there. He would go max power, raise the tail and then brake release. Very cool to watch and hear.

[@davematson939]

Got my PPL at Torrance back in '79. More than once doing my runup at 29R when Bob taxi'd by in his P51 and took the runway. Full power, full right rudder, and he was off. What a sight to see. Didn't he store his Shrike Commander at the same Evergreen hangar??

[@davidduganne5939]

Cool! Were you involved with the Wing Derringer?

[@EXROBOWIDOW]

The city, at the behest of some of the residents, is forbidding all the fun stuff lately. I think they've gone too far with banning touch-and-go maneuvers though. Seems like some people just hate airplanes.

[@davematson939]

@@EXROBOWIDOW Really? I'm in Houston area now... No more touch and goes at Torrance? For how long?

[@davematson939]

@@davidduganne5939 Negative.

[@scottwhitcher265]

That video of Bob Hoover and snip of his hat, at the end was such a cool touch.

[@douglashughbanks1828]

Having installed many JP Instrument fuel flow's it is vary important to do the calibration chart in the manual.

[@jameskirk172]

Bob Hoovers performance is always 10/10. It’s one of those things that always puts a smile on my face.

[@hotttt28]

Takeoffs are optional.Landings are mandatory!

[@kurtboginski507]

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.

[@merlepatterson]

There will never be another Bob Hoover. I saw him perform many times when I was young. (Along with Art Shull)

[@hogey74]

Lucky you! I never got to the US in time to catch him in action.

[@bw162]

The FAA has made sure of that. I recall they tried multiple times to take his license or medical.

[@grahammonk8013]

@@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.

[@timtrampenau3050]

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.

[@RocketToTheMoose]

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.

[@BobDenny]

"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.

[@ThomasClegg-e8o]

Smart.

[@chevyon37s]

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.

[@UncleKennysPlace]

Well, always take off with maximum possible fuel whilst keeping W&B in mind.

[@VictoryAviation]

“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.

[@septembersurprise5178]

@@VictoryAviation "A man may plan as much as he wants to, but nothing of consequence is likely to come of it until the magician circumstance steps in and takes the matter off his hands." - Mark Twain

[@res704]

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.

[@karennoneofyourbusiness7797]

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!

[@natural-born_pilot]

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.

[@dougfisher7197]

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!

[@ourlifeinwyoming4654]

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.

[@jimmydulin928]

Bob Hoover understood "the law of the roller coaster" from Stick and Rudder.

[@kentonoma7455]

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.

[@70dreadnought]

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.

[@railfink]

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.

[@davidtigwell9021]

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.

[@joso5554]

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.

[@dogwoodservicesinc.2972]

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.

[@oleran4569]

Juan, you do such a great job on these incidents! Thanks for the complete and understandable analysis!

[@theburtseoni]

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!

[@Tglass]

Great tip of the hat to Hoover...saw that act at Reno in 86. Looked exactly the same then.

[@bobcfi1306]

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.

[@u8ntcn031]

Saw Bob Hoover perform at the Miramar Airshow once, absolutely the most amazing energy management ever ... he stole the show for me.

[@THELIFEOFPRICE]

awesome job love the out come!

[@davidlee950]

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.

[@pamshewan9181]

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.

[@SkyhawkFlyer]

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.

[@pamshewan9181]

@@SkyhawkFlyer absolutely! I wouldn’t have believed it if I had not seen it.

[@gregmitchell4619]

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.

[@theburtseoni]

Kudos to the pilot who kept it rubber side down and landed without a scratch! He did not panic, or do anything foolish (other then not taking enough fuel to get back home with😉) so he earns an A+ for this save!

[@rickpinelli1586]

Back in the 70's, the Aero Commander was my favourite plane. I remember Bob Hoover very well!

[@Steve-xf4uv]

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.

[@dougturner1468]

I was lucky to start my career flying a 500S in the 80s. A tricky part of the airplane was taking on fuel. It had several tanks that fed into a center tank. There was a portion of the fuel load that is not measurable between full and about 3/4 of full. If a fueler was not familiar with a Shrike, they would fill to the top and put the cap on. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow enough time for fuel from the filler cap to drained and fill the 5 tanks. After the first time landing sooner than planned, you climb the ladder and visually verify Shrike full tanks.

[@TheLookingOne]

'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.

[@Chris11249]

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.

[@gooshy8312]

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.

[@abbert1955]

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!

[@watashiandroid8314]

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.

[@jackoneil3933]

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!"

[@Bob-j5o3b]

well, he was right, even though he was an ass-hat

[@jackoneil3933]

@@Bob-j5o3b Yup... Lesson hammered.

[@jackoneil3933]

@@Bob-j5o3b Yup, Lesson hammered home.

[@kurtbilinski1723]

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?!

[@ninjalectualx]

That airline pilot literally tried to kill you. I wonder if he has killed before, absolute psychopath

[@kevinknight470]

Always got Direct, Short and Sweet, Factual advice from Bob. Best Stick and Rudder Man that ever Flew, IMHO. RIP Bob.😃

[@greggd2027]

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

[@HyperSpaceProphet]

TSIO-520 is running pretty lean at 16 GPH per side. I own a 340---Same engine.

[@markoaks8694]

It is a pleasure to watch your videos and observe your experience and wisdom with aircraft. Thanks.

[@CBLounge2112]

Thanks for the great coverage as always Juan! Waving from Carson City!

[@pworker8124]

Thanks for showing the Bob Hoover video!

[@MA-ro5qi]

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.

[@a-fl-man640]

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

[@spruecorner2818]

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!

[@hadrian3487]

Here in Melbourne Australia, managed to see Bob Hoover in action at Avalon, flying a GAM Commander, VH-UJM. It was also great to have a wonderful conversation with him as well.

[@kobyonekanobie2790]

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.🏆🏅🎖

[@franktatom1837]

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.

[@KaldekBoch]

You know you've made it when after stuffing up, pilots just message you directly because of the inevitable Blancolirio coverage!

[@brandonhill2183]

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.

[@bendeleted9155]

Bob Hoover was walking through the pits back in Reno '94 and stopped to talk to my wife and I. So thankful my wife thought to take a picture of us. Bob was the greatest. 🥲👍

[@rickhanna2606]

I was fortunate to see RA Bob Hoover many times when I was younger,fantastic show always

[@lubricator]

Thanks for the update Juan. Good to hear they did not have to take the wings off and trailer it out.

[@sanfranciscobay]

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.

[@dethray1000]

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

[@fcbrants]

@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.

[@OOpSjm]

​@russbell6418 They didn't want to risk it. Lower risk option to tow it the short distance to the runway and fuel depot.

[@EXROBOWIDOW]

@russbell6418 Might not be worth the risk. I don't know if it's the same in airplanes, but in a car if you run out of gas, whatever gunk is in the bottom of the tank can get sucked into your fuel system, resulting in blocked fuel lines. I would think it's a wiser course of action to clean and check the fuel lines before the next flight if you've run the tanks dry.

[@alanmorris7634]

Awesome throwback to Bob Hoover. My Dad took me to Oshkosh I'm thinking about 1968 - 1970 and I saw his show.

[@DrJohn493]

Well, did the owner close the sale? Afterall, he did successfully demo an emergency landing in the Shrike.

[@garymurphy6980]

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!

[@miloswanson9646]

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...

[@flybouy11]

Similar experience with a 337. Just bought the plane and were heading back to DC from TOL. 6 men on board and it was night. Didn’t understand the fuel system. Both engines quit and they were out at 7000’ over dark country. Toledo vectored them to our county airport. They made it to our airport barely. There gear made a pathway through the bean field to get to the runway. Left it at the middle of the runway until help arrived.

[@tedstriker754]

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.

[@TyphoonVstrom]

Density altitude isn't just about longer takeoff runs and slower climb rates. The fuel burn with high temps and density altitute- DA basically brings the "apparent" atmosphere lower, so the service ceiling comes down too. So aircraft end up operating in a higher "apparent" altitude and therefore much closer to their service ceilings, which means more throttle opening to maintain altitude or performance required. Some of the videos we see of single engine aircraft not climbing after take off on high DA days, I speculate they are at their "DA service ceilings" and are doomed from engine start. Maybe GA pilots should start calculating DA service ceiling on hot and high take offs- puts things into a much greater perspective.

[@cottydry]

There are 3 wastes in aviation. 1. Runway behind you 2. Elevation above you 3. FUEL LEFT IN THE TRUCK

[@theonlywoody2shoes]

…. 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

[@grayrabbit2211]

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.

[@08turboSS]

Sounds like the old fuel oem gauge was the accurate one, go figure.

[@08turboSS]

Thats elevation in "front" of you.

[@08turboSS]

Amd #4 always ise cross feed or timer for tank switching per that particular aircraft operator handbook.

[@geoffeg]

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?!"

[@teeembeee]

Now that is FUNNY!

[@h2oman983]

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.

[@andrewcrow5787]

I live just one town over in Stagecoach. I missed seeing them tow it by me. I'm glad this video showed up. Thanks for the info.

[@jeffg7]

A better plan than "always take off with full tanks" is "always take off with an accurate, known fuel quantity". Some of these aircraft are overweight with full tanks and more than one occupant so you can't top off your tanks. Even if you did, are you sure they hold the rated capacity? There's a lot more to fuel management than just fill and go.

[@crazycaseyscustoms]

Thanks as always for letting us know the run down, Mr. Brown. I drove through there about 15 minutes prior, and my wife just a few minutes after. Definitely not something you see everyday…even in Northern Nevada. 😂 Glad everyone was alright.

[@kirknitz3794]

We used to go to Point Mugu for the airshows. Seeing Bob Hoover fly the Aero Commander with the engines off still sticks with me. I was a CAP cadet also but don't have any remarkable stories.

[@drenk7]

Jaun your statement that “ Fuel Gauges only have to be accurate on Empty “ . Very true of analog gauges. I had a Luscombe 8A with a single tank , behind my head. It had a antique automotive gauge. I had a calibrated dip stick for the tank. Made it by starting with an empty tank, then adding fuel from the gasoline pump. Then marking the stick. I carried it with the airplane. I could always dip the tank and know how much fuel It contained.

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

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.

[@GlideYNRG]

Thank you Juan and thank you to the PIC involved sticking a hand up and owning some bad choices. Good job on keeping their cool too, well handled.

[@davidpeterson7197]

The PIC did NOT "own up" to ANY bad choices. That arrogance is the problem.

[@jondrew55]

I saw Bob Hoover twice do his no engine loop, roll landing. So cool.

[@larryweitzman5163]

The 500A I believe did come stock with TCM io-470. Hoover flew a 500S which had the 540 lycs. This aircraft as you said was a 500A, so it did have bigger engines with the Colemill. They may be N/A io-520, not TSIO-520s. I'm getting in the weeds here, and weeds areen't good today at PVF.

[@dennistowne457]

The Commander is one heck of an airplane. I was fortunate to see Bob perform at Reno in the late 70’s.

[@peperivera6987]

I saw Bob Hoover perform at an air show here in Guadalajara México back in 1985 flying his aero commander doing the same routine and it was fantastic !!!!

[@JefferyTheriault]

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.

[@aairsick]

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!

[@kamakaziozzie3038]

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

[@natural-born_pilot]

Good point and I do the very same thing.

[@v1rotait23]

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! 😁

[@JBoy340a]

The pilot did a nice job putting it down. They are fortunate they had open road. I always feared running out of gas so put more in my 340A than I needed. I was fortunately to meet Hoover one time at OSH. Nice guy, very humble, and loved to meet people.

[@michaelrussell5346]

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👍🇦🇺🇺🇸

[@bcgrittner]

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 “.

[@stay_at_home_astronaut]

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.

[@PRH123]

Sound policy.

[@chrisnegele6875]

I wonder how many people get this comment. I started flying in South Florida in 1976 I know exactly what you are talking about!

[@truthserum5310]

I'm from Miami, and know what you're talking about, lol.

[@mikemicksun6469]

Drugs

[@jimmiller5600]

"Save the Bales!"

[@justusetpecator]

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.

[@LouT1501]

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.

[@chugwaterjack4458]

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.

[@alanduncan4207]

Had a JPI fuel flow monitor (and also their excellent engine monitor instrumentation) in my M20J. The fuel remaining only makes sense if you are meticulous about inputting the correct fuel added quantities. Even being conscientious about that, I was pretty skeptical and just kept my own running estimates during long cross-countries.