Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks

by Dave "Bio" Baranek

On some jets the edges of some panels were bent from being pried open or hammered closed during maintenance.

Panels

While flying, I would look out and examine the upper surfaces of my jet, noting greasy footprints that marked the paths trod for repairs and preflights.

Footprints

We were fighter guys anyway, not about to be impressed by other fighter guys, even if they were good.

These guys were all ass-kicking fighter pilots and RIOs, yet their demeanor in front of the class personified not swagger and arrogance, but control, precision, and authority.

One of Topgun’s basic principles was honest criticism, so we all had critique sheets.

Airspeed was the most important information for him in these flights because it affected how tight we turned and whether we could use climbing maneuvers, but it was only one of the eight or ten things I covered in my scan and reported to him.

Airspeed

The senior officers gave us top cover from higher-ups, who had probably forgotten what it was like when they were lieutenants and could handle almost anything that came up.

Cover

Guys in VF-24 had a lot of ideas, and many of them went no further than, “Yeah, somebody should check on that.” But no one did. Here, however, each of us was both empowered and accountable, which turned out to be a good combination.

Empowered

One of the many things I liked about Topgun was that there was no secret about what constituted acceptable performance, and no shortage of assistance or inspiration in attaining it.

Growing

His aircraft was bureau number 160665, and his RIO was Lieutenant Chuck “Silver” Lewis.

Bozo BuNo