‘Of course, for safety reasons, there wasn’t any aircraft flying inverted one above the other, and that iconic scene was obtained thanks to one of the few special effects in the film,’ Dave “Bio” Baranek, F-14 Tomcat RIO
After serving in the Navy for 20 years, Dave “Bio” Baranek had a successful and fulfilling career. He was assigned to F-14 Tomcat squadrons and the prestigious TOPGUN training program, and he also served with the US 7th Fleet and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He once oversaw an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron, which was responsible for fourteen aircraft valued at over $700 million and close to 300 personnel. Upon his retirement, he scored 2,499.7 flying hours in an F-14 Tomcat and 688 carrier landings. In addition, 461.8 flight hours in the F-5F Tiger II are recorded in his logbook.
He retired from the Navy in 1999.
In 1985, he got the unique opportunity to fly aerial sequences used in the Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun,” which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. He was a TOPGUN air-to-air combat instructor. He also served as a dialogue advisor on the project and took some of the few available photographs of the movie’s black F-5 fighters in flight.
In his book Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death and Hollywood Glory as One of America’s Best Fighter Jocks, Bio provides some never-before-told details about Top Gun.
One of the best-known sequences in the movie, for example, is when Maverick and Goose’s F-14 flies upside-down over the black, two-seat F-5F (also known as the MiG-28). Naturally, none of the aircraft were flying inverted, one atop the other. For safety reasons, one of the few special effects in the movie was used to create that memorable scene.
As Bio explains, many of the movie’s flying scenes were filmed on a specially equipped Learjet by former fighter pilot Clay Lacy. “I was to fly (aboard the F-5F) with Rat (actually Bob “Rat” Willard was the Topgun squadron’s primary coordinator for the movie), who briefed the flight. […] We would have two F-14s and four F-5s available, but the first scene would involve only the two-seat F-5F flying in formation alongside the Learjet. On a call from the Lear, both Rat and I would look up, acting as startled as we could. Although there would be nothing above us, Rat explained how this shot would be used for the scene where Maverick’s Tomcat is inverted above the MiG-28. The F-14 would be added later in one of the few special effects in the film.”
Rat radioed for the three F-5Es to be detached so they could join the Tomcats once the aircraft took off, and he and Bio formed a tight formation on Lear’s right side, where Baranek saw “the glass window that made up a large panel on this side of the fuselage. One high-quality camera sat behind the glass; others were mounted on the top and belly of the Lear.”
Then, as Bio explains, a voice came from the Learjet. “‘A little forward. That’s good. When I count to three, both of you look up as quickly as you can. Remember, you’re startled. One, two, three!’ I looked up. It was hard to act startled in all my flight gear and oxygen mask. No feedback, just a small voice: ‘OK, let’s do it again. Remember, you are startled that there is an F-14 above you. One, two, three!’ They didn’t teach us this in Pensacola.”
Photo by Paramount and David “Bio” Baranek
