Aviation 12

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 dog ght

sequences with instructor ‘Jester’ in the  lm,

‘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 dog ght training as a safety call over

the radio: “42 is ballistic”.

We also helped plan the

 ying 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  ying

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  ight lead.

There were two more key contributors

to the  ying scenes: British director Tony

Scott and Learjet owner/pilot Clay Lacy.

Before every  ight for the  lm, ‘Rat’ and

‘Bozo’ worked with Scott and Lacy to review

storyboard sketches that outlined the desired

 ying action. They re ned concepts with the

aid of 1:72 scale models used in  ight briefs

and debriefs, with consideration to camera

angles and ensuring the footage would

convey the various plot elements. This all led

to detailed  ight brie ngs for the F-14 crews

as well as the instructor pilots and RIOs.

In keeping with NFWS and naval aviation

standards, every  ight was carefully debriefed

to identify lessons for the next iteration

CINEMATOGRAPHY

If you’re expecting me to shoot holes in the

 lm, you’re going to be disappointed. The

mission statement for the production was to

make money, and it succeeded, becoming

the top-grossing American  lm of 1986. It

captured the imagination of millions, making

them aware of the navy’s  iers, 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  lm editing, I asked

director Tony Scott about three  aws that

were bugging me.

The  rst 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  lm,

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 dog ghts 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

 lming a documentary.

My third comment was a relatively minor

point: the external camera pods visible on

18 Aviation News incorporating Jets December 2018

Dave Baranek (left) and ‘Rat’ Willard, a

lieutenant and lieutenant commander

respectively during production of Top

Gun after a  ight scene for the  lm. All the

instructors assigned to the school at the time

of  lming were listed in the closing credits.

Below: Three Topgun F-5Es wearing a variety of different camou age over the Paci c Ocean en route to do ‘battle’ with Tomcats and Hornets.