HOW THEY MADE
Former US Navy radar intercept officer
Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek was an instructor at the
real Topgun school when Hollywood called.
He tells the story of the team who helped
bring realism to a cult 1980s film and here
reveals some of the tricks of the trade.
“I
feel the need… the need for speed” –
an oft-quoted line that could only have
come from one film.
Its 32 years since the release of
Top Gun in 1986 and the film remains popular
today. Several songs from the soundtrack
were hits, while the press reported on a new
wave of ‘Hollywood patriotism’. It made Tom
Cruise into a household name and elevated
the careers of Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer and
Meg Ryan.
But if you’re reading this magazine you’re
probably more interested in the jet-fuelled
titanium ‘stars’ and the sky-searing dogfight
action. With the long awaited sequel Top
Gun: Maverick reportedly currently being
filmed, let’s look back at how the original
was created.
THE REALITY
The Navy Fighter Weapons School (NFWS)
was known as Topgun from when the first
16
TOP GUN OR TOPGUN?
Above: From left: the author and his wife Laura
alongside Tom Cruise at the cast and crew
party on completion of filming. Copyright Russ
Novak, used with permission
Main photo: Three F-5Es playing the part of
MiG-28s in the movie Top Gun during a filming
sortie. Some of the black paint has peeled
off the middle jet, but the its ‘make-up’ was
touched up at the end of every flying day. All
photos Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek unless stated
The Navy Fighter Weapons School
sometimes wrote Topgun as one word
and sometimes as two. When Paramount
Pictures made the film, the title was two
words, Top Gun. To ensure clarity the author
uses Topgun as a single word to describe
the flying squadron, and two words to
describe the film.
class graduated in 1969. The initial cadre of
instructors started from scratch with minimal
support, fought bureaucracy, organisational
jealousy, and a host of other obstacles to
launch the programme.
Those first instructors, by any measure,
got it right. They had been in combat, done
their homework and were also talented,
smart, resourceful and committed to teach
effective air combat, using whatever tools
were available. The founders were followed
like a belt of 20mm ammunition by new
instructors who continued to uphold the high
standards and build on that solid foundation.
US Navy and Marine Corps fighter
squadrons sent their best aircrews as
students – to soak up the classroom
training and challenge the faculty’s
Douglas A-4s, Northrop T-38s and F-5s
above the American southwest desert.
Upon graduation, those students returned
to their squadrons and passed the torch
Aviation News incorporating Jets December 2018
of hard-won knowledge and plot devices. To
to colleagues. support this, screenwriters
It’s true that the name and actors attended
Topgun (or Top Gun) had unclassified briefings,
been used in aviation watched dogfights on
circles before. The the big-screen Tactical
combat success of early Aircrew Combat Training
graduates, who returned System display, and
to Vietnam, had proved chatted with pilots and
the value such training Tomcat backseaters,
but the Miramar-based radar intercept officers
programme became the (RIOs), to get a sense of
most famous of the breed. the environment. Since
the story was set in the
HOLLYWOOD mid-1980s, the F-14
Military aviation circles Tomcat would be the
Above: The F-14 Tomcat of Tom Cruise’s
knew and respected the NFWS, but the character, Lt Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, behind primary aircraft, as it comprised the majority
outside world knew little. That began to the Clay Lacy Learjet used in filming. of Topgun class fighters at the time.
change when the May 1983 issue of the The F-4 was on its way out and the F/A-
Below: The Navy Fighter Weapons School
glossy California magazine hit newsstands 18 was too new. The two-person crew of the
(Topgun) badge. US Navy
with an article by author Ehud Yonay. He Tomcat also provided the basis for a ‘buddy’
expertly described the experience of a real- This would require extensive support from relationship that works in films.
life F-14 Tomcat crew – ‘Yogi’ Hnarakis and the Navy. It took two years for everything Events in the real world added
‘Possum’ Cully – going through the class. to fall into place. plausibility for some of the major
The article included dramatic photos by F-14 By the time Paramount plot elements. US Navy jets
pilot and former instructor ‘Heater’ Heatley. arrived at Miramar in regularly intercepted
Film producers Jerry Bruckheimer the spring of 1985, fighters from hostile
and Don Simpson read the feature at the team had been countries at this
Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, 120 miles formed: top-level time, especially
(193km) north of Miramar. Their first big technical personnel, Libya. One such
hit, Flashdance, was in cinemas and they dynamic young intercept resulted
foresaw a real blockbuster in the pages of the stars who were in the Tomcat’s
magazine. Bruckheimer was quoted in the roughly the same first kills in August
July 1986 issue of Air Classics magazine in age as typical 1981 in response
an article by Jim Farmer called ‘The Making students, a few to an out-of-the-
of Top Gun’: “The pilots that attended the more well-known envelope missile
Topgun school are a combination of Olympic faces to play the shot by Libyan Su-22
athletes in the sky and rock and roll heroes. instructors, and a Fitters The incident
Fitters.
We immediately saw a movie.” rough script that had showed how quickly these
Bruckheimer and Simpson aimed for been developed by several intercepts could escalate
the stratosphere, planning a major motion screenwriters working with into deadly dogfights.
picture that would include plenty of flying Navy aircrews. Instructors (and others) were given
action. In the mid-1980s, there were All they had to do was set up the early versions of the script. I recall sitting
few options to achieve the high quality cameras and start filming? Well, not really. as part of a group reading various scenes,
necessary for the film. Computer-generated usually with the aim of brainstorming ways
animation was too new and expensive. Scale F-14 IN THE SPOTLIGHT to develop something exciting for the screen.
models just wouldn’t look right. The film may have consisted of 90 minutes For example, it was obvious that the F-14
They needed real aircraft, flying from real of flying and fighting, if aircrews and aviation aircrews would face two different types of
carriers and airfields and fighting each other. enthusiasts had been in charge. The foes: aircraft flown by a hostile nation and
producers knew elements such as romance aircraft flown by tutors. Someone asked if
and tragedy are essential for a successful there was any chance of using actual MiGs,
film. We will leave those aspects to one side. but in 1985 this wasn’t possible.
Flying scenes were integral and We looked at the two types of aircraft
necessary to demonstrate character traits then flown by NFWS: A-4 Skyhawks and
F-5E/F Tiger IIs. Everyone agreed the F-5
looked more sinister, so it was chosen to play
the enemy aircraft, which would have the
fictitious designation ‘MiG-28’ to prevent

From left to right a two-seat F-5F

Tiger II, single-seat F-5E Tiger II and
an A-4E Skyhawk heading out for a
typical mission against aircrew on
a Topgun course. From the mid-
1970s until 1987, this trio comprised
Topgun’s adversary fleet.

www.aviation-news.co.uk 17
 comparison with an actual aircraft. To ensure
the audience would understand who the bad
guys were, four NFWS F-5s were painted
black and emblazoned with red star insignias
that resembled several then-hostile forces.
In all, three F-5Es and one two-seat F-5F
became MiG-28s.
In other sessions, we collectively gave a
thumbs-down to an explicit sex scene in an
early version of the script and derided the
screenwriters’ misuse of some terminology.
For example, during one of the dogfight
sequences with instructor ‘Jester’ in the film,
‘Maverick’ says: “He’s going vertical. So am
I.” ‘Goose’ adds: “We’re going ballistic ‘Mav’.
Go get him!” In reality the term ‘ballistic’
is broadcast by a pilot when his aircraft is
slowing below controllability speed and is
falling through the sky. We used it during
close-in dogfight training as a safety call over
the radio: “42 is ballistic”.
We also helped plan the
flying accident in which –
spoiler alert – ‘Goose’ dies.
STORYLINE
Working with former
instructor and Vietnam
MiG-21 killer ‘Viper’
Pettigrew and others, the
screenwriters came up
with a story that connected
plausible real-world
tensions and Topgun
training, while showcasing
an immature but talented
pilot. They leveraged real
episodes and terminology,
but applied vivid
imagination and poetic
licence to create a gripping
story. Viper was credited as
technical adviser.
The Topgun squadron’s liaison was ‘Rat’
Willard, who put in many hours helping to
smooth out details in the plot and script. ‘Rat’
was also a key player in translating the flying
Below: Three Topgun F-5Es wearing a variety of different camouflage over the Pacific Ocean en route to do ‘battle’ with Tomcats and Hornets.
18
action from the screenwriters’ imaginations
into manoeuvres that were thrilling but could
be executed safely, a task in which he was
assisted by ‘Bozo’ Abel, the F-14 flight lead.
There were two more key contributors
to the flying scenes: British director Tony
Scott and Learjet owner/pilot Clay Lacy.
Before every flight for the film, ‘Rat’ and
‘Bozo’ worked with Scott and Lacy to review
storyboard sketches that outlined the desired
flying action. They refined concepts with the
aid of 1:72 scale models used in flight briefs
and debriefs, with consideration to camera
angles and ensuring the footage would
convey the various plot elements. This all led
to detailed flight briefings for the F-14 crews
as well as the instructor pilots and RIOs.
In keeping with NFWS and naval aviation
standards, every flight was carefully debriefed
to identify lessons for the next iteration
Dave Baranek (left) and ‘Rat’ Willard, a
lieutenant and lieutenant commander
respectively during production of Top
Gun after a flight scene for the film. All the
instructors assigned to the school at the time
of filming were listed in the closing credits.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
If you’re expecting me to shoot holes in the
film, you’re going to be disappointed. The
mission statement for the production was to
make money, and it succeeded, becoming
the top-grossing American film of 1986. It
captured the imagination of millions, making
them aware of the navy’s fliers, even if many
assumed it was the air force, and even if it
was an exaggerated depiction.
When former F-14 pilot ‘Smegs’ Semcken
and I were at Paramount for two days
working on dialogue and film editing, I asked
director Tony Scott about three flaws that
were bugging me.
The first was that all the distances were
too short for real-life weapons’ use. At the
distances shown in Top Gun, an aircraft
would likely be damaged by the explosion
and debris when its missile or bullets hit the
target. The director said
close distances were
necessary so the aircraft
would be more than
specks on the screen.
My second complaint
involved one of the
baseline rules in the film,
which is “never leave your
wingman”. The school
doesn’t teach wingmen to
remain in tight formation
when engaged. The
real-world employment of
mutual support doctrine
requires experience and
skill to learn. Having
watched the miles-wide
furballs [many dogfights in
a relatively small space] of
real aerial engagements,
Scott reminded me that
a depiction at the correct scale would not
make a visual impact, and that we were not
filming a documentary.
My third comment was a relatively minor
point: the external camera pods visible on
Aviation News incorporating Jets December 2018
some F-14s. It would the audience. As for
have been very difficult the cockpit displays,
to completely eliminate our mid-1980s
these, and Scott Cold War mentality
suggested that most of reasoned that we did
the audience wouldn’t not want Paramount
notice them anyway. (If to show the exact
you haven’t seen them, cockpit and heads-up
look closely at scenes display symbology.
with F-14s in the The film crew,
Topgun class: the small however, did a nice
white pods on some job of approximating
Tomcats are cameras). these. As for oxygen
masks, they are
REALITY OR essential for survival
NOT? at higher altitudes,
‘Maverick’ guiding and I personally
‘Cougar’ in for a found it a relief to
landing. Similar take them off for a
incidents actually few moments when
happened during the conditions permitted
Korean and Vietnam – but the actors did
wars, and possibly so a lot more often
more recently. The to show their high-
F-14 community knew priced faces.
of times when a pilot “I’ll hit the brakes,
The difference in size between the F-14 and F-5
was rattled by the life-or-death stress of he’ll fly right by us.” My recollection was
is emphasised here. The Tomcat was superior
landing on a carrier and was ‘talked down’ overall, but the F-5 challenged aircrews where that ‘Rat’ came up with this idea as a dramatic
by a combination of a calm RIO, wingman they needed it: the engaged arena. manoeuvre to show ‘Maverick’s’ pilot skills.
and the ship-based landing signal officer The F-14 had a good pitch rate, and if the
(LSO). This scene was jazzed up to establish pilot yanked back on the stick it would likely
‘Maverick’s’ nature, but had a basis in fact.
Cockpit mock-up and displays.
‘They leveraged force an overshoot by a pursuing aircraft.
But there’s a trade-off because the F-14
Paramount arranged for most of the actors
to take a flight in an F-14 rear cockpit and
real episodes would suddenly find itself at a much slower
airspeed, vulnerable to attack by other
mounted a camera to record them in the air.
Unfortunately, almost all of them got airsick,
and terminology, bandits in the vicinity…commonly referred to
as “out of airspeed and ideas”. Still, as proven
which is understandable, and the footage
was unusable.
but applied vivid by several F-4s in combat over Vietnam,
such a tactic can negate a threat and give the
As a result, a high-quality, movable
cockpit mock-up was built that facilitated
imagination and fighter another chance.
Flying through jetwash; hitting the
better control of lighting and camera
position. However, the F-14 doesn’t rumble
poetic licence canopy when ejecting. The TF30 engines
of the F-14A were probably the aircraft’s
like an old truck on a country road when it
flies, as depicted in these shots. It flies far to make an biggest limiting factor. They had benefits,
such as excellent fuel specs in cruise, but
more smoothly in almost all circumstances,
but the motion was used to suggest flying to exciting story’ were susceptible to rapid throttle movement
and turbulent air under high-angle-of-

Below: Two ‘MiG-28s’ make a sprightly departure from NAS Miramar in August 1985 to join up with the author’s aircraft.

www.aviation-news.co.uk 19
 attack conditions the camera and
– both of which behind the scenes.
are encountered in “Diplomat,
dogfighting. These interpreter,
factors led to the plot organiser, ‘cat
element of losing herder’ and
the engines, being more. Talented,
forced to eject and professional, witty
‘Goose’ then hitting and bright – she
the canopy. endeared herself
In F-14 testing, to aircrews and
a RIO had actually troops by gracious
hit the canopy after acceptance
ejecting in a flat of our bawdy
spin, thankfully he humour and keen
survived. Although appreciation for
exaggerated, there Above: Topgun F-5s formate with Clay Lacy’s the passion and
was once again a basis in reality, and the Learjet as the gaggle flies out from NAS zeal that embodied Carrier Naval Aviation.”
film-makers needed something that would Miramar. Lacy received permission from She exemplified the outstanding film-
produce a tragedy. the navy to operate from the base for film- makers who worked on Top Gun.
Flying from Miramar to a deployed related flights. Finally, the story only touched on
carrier. While all forces have plans to Below: A large formation of Tomcats and F-5s the essential role of personnel, such
reinforce deployed units with fresh aircraft during a real Topgun course – the second as plane captains and flight deck crew,
as needed in combat, it would be extremely F-14 in the formation carries the fictitious without whom the sleek and powerful
unlikely that crews freshly graduated from VF-1 markings used for the film. fighters would be no more than flight deck
Topgun would fly 10,000 miles (16,093km) ornaments. Some of the most memorable
to be in combat. camera mounts used on the F-14s. He had shots are at the beginning, with the
Buzzing the tower and flying canopy- to figure out how to make wiring and aircraft crew scrambling for aircraft launch and
to-canopy above a MiG. Definitely possible structure mods that got the job done without recovery. Their enthusiasm for flight deck
but unlikely, because these actions would compromising aircraft safety or reliability. He action is evident, and is demonstrated by
probably lead to the pilot and RIO losing their made it happen. the Arresting Gear Chief Petty Officer’s
wings. But they sure made Top Gun more fun. On the Paramount side, a team of energetic pull-back and kick after an
talented and dedicated professionals was arrested landing, a reflexive expression of
UNSUNG HEROES necessary to creating this high-quality, the excitement of carrier operations.
There were many who contributed to making ground-breaking film, including the unit Top Gun depicted many aspects of Naval
Top Gun the memorable film that it is, and publicist, Marsha Robinson. Aviation in a very engaging and effective
we have limited space here, but I would like Former instructor ‘Jambo’ Ray paid tribute way. Despite minor flaws and technical errors
to mention three more people. to Mrs Robinson after her death earlier this in the name of entertainment, it remains a
Grumman employee Dick Milligan, was year saying she, “had to know everyone landmark aviation film more than 30 years
instrumental in developing the special and everything that was going on in front of after its release.

Author Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek was an F-14 RIO and Topgun instructor who assisted with making the film. You can read more of his experiences in his book
Topgun Days and at his website, www.topgunbio.com. Dave thanks the following for their assistance with this article: former Topgun instructors ‘Jambo’
Ray and ‘Nick’ Nickell, former Grumman employee Bill Barto, and aviation enthusiasts Dimitrios Logios and Christian Nentwig. Their assistance is greatly
appreciated. Any errors or omissions are solely the responsibility of the author.

20 Aviation News incorporating Jets December 2018