Robert "Hoot" Gibson is fanatical about flying. From his childhood, to his days as an astronaut, to his current job as a Southwest Airlines pilot, Gibson, 52, has done everything he can to keep soaring into the sky.

This weekend, he continued to pursue his calling when he flew "Riff Raff," a Hawker Sea Fury plane in the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nev. He didn't take home the gold, but that probably won't stop him from going back next year.

Gibson said he wanted to be a pilot all his life. He grew up in an aviation family. Both mom and dad were pilots.

He started out in 1969 in the Navy, where he worked his way up to become a combat and test pilot.

Then, in 1978, he went to NASA, where he flew on the shuttle five times. Gibson said the high point of his career was leading the crew aboard Atlantis for the first docking with the Russian space station Mir in 1992.

Not all of his time at NASA was as easy, however. At one point, Gibson's love of flying prevented him from rocketing into space.

After flying in an air show in the late 1980s, he was pulled from a shuttle mission because NASA rules prohibit flight crews from participating in high-risk activities before flying a shuttle mission.

The mission was three years away, but Gibson said he was caught in the interpretation of the rule. At the time, the rule said no high-risk activities were to be conducted a year before the mission.

"NASA overreacted a bit," he said. "I maintain it’s not a bad rule, but I didn’t fight it because I thought I could win the battle and lose the war."

Gibson said he overcame what he described as an unfortunate and unhappy time with the right attitude.

Patience paid off and Gibson was assigned to lead a 1992 mission aboard Endeavour with the Spacelab and later the Mir docking mission.

He also served as chief of the Astronaut Office and deputy director for Flight Crew Operations before leaving NASA in 1996.

Instead of heading to a cushy desk job or the golf course, Gibson took off for the cockpit of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737.

First Officer Gibson, 52, said he’s still working up the airline seniority chain to eventually take over the captain’s chair.

"Everybody has to start at the bottom," Gibson said. "This is the first time I’ve been in an outfit that was based purely on seniority."

Even though Gibson was an experienced pilot, he had to learn a lot to be able to handle the large passenger planes.

"I didn’t have much experience in big planes," he said. "I had a lot in fighters and homebuilts though."

Though it’s not the space shuttle or fighter plane, carrying passengers presented new challenges.

"It’s a challenge to fly the plane so smoothly that passengers can’t tell it’s an airplane," he says. "They should feel just like they’re in living room."

About the only thing left to try are balloons and blimps, he said.

"I don’t feel a real attraction to them though," Gibson said. "Speed is the attraction for me."