Amy Hoover Ph.D.
Presenter
Amy Hoover wonders what she will be when she finally grows up. Flying was not a childhood dream; she spent her youth in the Appalachians doing all the hillbilly things kids do and managed to survive unscathed. Hoover skipped out of high school and went to university, where the most exciting thing was rowing on the Varsity Crew team. Originally a music major, she had a chance encounter with the subject of Geology, with which she fell completely in love. As National Merit Scholar, Hoover focused on academics and pursued B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology and Geochemistry, with a minor in nuclear chemistry, which gave her the opportunity to tramp around the wilderness in central Idaho banging on rocks and enjoying the wide-open spaces. When she finished graduate school, the dearth of jobs in her specialty field led her to yet another distraction; she became a wilderness whitewater river guide on the Middle Fork and Main Salmon Rivers deep in the Idaho backcountry. During low water times, the Idaho wilderness rivers must be accessed by air. Hoover’s first ride in a GA airplane was into one of the airstrips in the Frank Church Wilderness in a Britten Norman Islander. Crammed in between the rafts and boat frames, her view out the window was enchanting. Flying over the mountains and through the canyons immediately became the dream she knew she had to pursue. Hoover worked as a river guide in the summers, and migrated to Baja, Mexico in the winters to work as a sea kayaking and mountain biking guide, and naturalist for whale watching tours. She saved enough money to obtain her private pilot license in 1989, in Salmon, Idaho, in a Cessna 150. With less than 90 hours in her logbook, Hoover decided she needed her own airplane, and along came her 1947 Cessna 120. That little airplane was bare bones, without communication or navigational aids, and it taught her how to really fly. Tailwheel endorsements were not required, so she cautiously expanded her understanding of how the airplane wanted to be treated, and in exchange it taught her about how to fly in the mountains and canyons, read the wind, respect the terrain and the heat, and safely explore the backcountry. She gained knowledge through the tutelage of many of the “old-time” back country pilots, and absorbed every bit of wisdom she could from them. Based on her desire to become a professional pilot, Hoover decided she needed to expand her knowledge of the bigger world of aviation. Not quite two years after she started her pilot training, she flew the Cessna 120 from Idaho to Florida in the middle of a cold, snowy winter. With only a handheld radio, and a watch and sectional for navigation, it was a three-week trip chocked full of adventures. She then planted herself in the middle of the South Carolina – Atlanta, Georgia area to obtain her instrument rating and commercial pilot license. She flew a lot of different airplanes, gained experience in IMC and a busy ATC system, and made new friends. Then, it was back to Idaho with the Cessna 120 to look for a job. Since the Charter companies required 500 hours minimum, Hoover obtained her flight instructor certificate in 1992 and continued to work as a guide until she could build the required time fight instructing. She was hired in 1993 as a 135 back country Air Taxi pilot and spent several years hauling hunters, rafters, and gear into the Idaho Wilderness airstrips and ranches. She also worked as a contract pilot for the Forest Service and BLM, continued to flight instruct, and obtained her MEL certificate. After a short stint as a corporate pilot, flying a Beech Duke and a Mitsubishi MU-2, Hoover realized backcountry flying and flight instruction were her true passion, so she quit to become a full-time instructor and teach backcountry flying for the FAA and on her own. In 1997, she co-founded the McCall Mountain Canyon Flying Seminars with two other lady instructors, after which she spent the next few years developing the curriculum, des
AMY HOOVER Ph.D - Presenter
After a short stint as a corporate pilot flying a Beech Duke and a Mitsubishi MU-2, Amy realized backcountry flying and flight instruction were her true passion, so she become a full-time instructor to teach backcountry flying for the FAA and on her own.
In 1997, she co-founded the McCall Mountain Canyon Flying Seminars with two other lady instructors, As the director of the Aviation program at a community college in Oregon, she completed her Ph.D. in education that led to her current position. Hoover has been teaching in the Aviation Department at Central Washington University for 20 years, was Department Chair for 8 years, and has been a Full Professor since 2012.
Amy has published over 30 professional articles and manuals and given more than 200 public presentations on a variety of aviation topics nationwide. Hoover keeps her hand in giving backcountry instruction in summers through her business, Canyon Flying.
