Aerobatic great Sean D. Tucker (left) showers Bob Hoover with praise at a recent gathering. 
Not too many people are around to mark their 93rd birthday, and even fewer can celebrate by watching a film about their accomplishments. Bob Hoover did both.
Hoover, who for years astounded air show spectators with his remarkable dead-stick aerobatic routine in a Shrike Commander, turned 93 on January 24th. At the same time, filmmaker Kim Furst released an 86-minute documentary on Hoover titled “Flying the Feathered Edge.”
The film, which is comprised of vintage photos, rare historical footage, and testimonials from other notable aviators, documents Hoover’s “precision flying, gentlemanly demeanor, and aviation knowledge.” Among those interviewed are Harrison Ford, Carroll Shelby, Burt Rutan, Dick Rutan, Medal of Honor recipient Col. Bud Day, Gene Cernan, Clay Lacy, and Sean D. Tucker.
Kim Furst is an award-winning producer, director, and editor. “Flying the Feathered Edge” is her fifth aviation documentary as film editor, and first as producer/director. Earlier work as a film editor includes the general aviation documentary “One Six Right,” Discovery Channel’s “Rocket Challenge,” and “Wings Over the Rockies” starring Harrison Ford, among others. Furst has produced a number of “making of” documentaries for big-budget features, winning a Golden Satellite Award for the behind-the-scenes for “Mission: Impossible: III.”
“This film captures my life story in an authentic and accurate way,” Hoover commented. “I don’t know how it could have been done any better.”
EAA Chairman Jack Pelton called it “the best aviation documentary I have ever seen.”
“Flying the Feathered Edge” currently is available on DVD and BluRay exclusively at www.thebobhooverproject.com.
Photos courtesy of North American Aviation’s “Bob Hoover Flies the Shrike” – as seen in “Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project”
