Tag:

TopGun

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Tomcat RIO shares true story behind Top Gun’s famous inverted flight scene

by Till Daisd December 28, 2023

written by Till Daisd

‘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.

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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

December 28, 2023 0 comment

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The naval officer who created TOPGUN, retired captain Dan Pedersen, flies a Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornet

by Till Daisd November 19, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Capt. Brian Kesselring, a former TOPGUN instructor himself and now flight leader and commanding officer of the Blue Angels, had the honor of taking TOPGUN1, retired Navy Captain Dan Pedersen, up for a ride

Led by former Navy Captain Dan Pedersen, in 60 days, nine individuals founded an educational institution in 1969, that is now firmly ingrained in the history of American naval aviation. The Navy Fighter Weapons School, or TOPGUN, is the current name of such institution. Although the school’s existence was only known to a select few elite fighter pilots in 1969, by the time the 1986 film Top Gun debuted, nobody would be able to forget it.

A young Pedersen joined the US Navy in 1955, and according to the US Navy Blue Angels Facebook Page, he started his Naval Aviation adventure while stationed at NAS Los Alamitos, California, by riding in the backseat of a naval aircraft. In September 2021, he flew over NAS Los Alamitos once more, but this time he was riding in the backseat of a Blue Angels aircraft.

“During our air show in Huntington Beach, where we had the privilege to fly Capt. Pedersen, the first commanding officer for TOPGUN.”

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The distinction of taking TOPGUN1 for a ride belonged to Capt. Brian Kesselring, a former TOPGUN instructor who is currently a flight leader and commanding officer of the Blue Angels. On that particular day, Cmdr. Mike Patterson, the TOPGUN commanding officer at the time, joined them while piloting a fleet F/A-18 Super Hornet.

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The Blue Angels felt that honoring the original TOPGUN was appropriate in light of the recent release of Top Gun: Maverick.“While many are fascinated by the actors in the films, for me, the true celebrities are people like Capt. Pedersen, the ones who paved the way and used their abilities to make us a more capable military,” said Capt. Brian Kesselring. “Flying this legendary naval aviator was a true honor and a terrific way to thank him for his contributions to our country.”

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The Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Course – better known as TOPGUN – has a reputation for producing the best fighter pilots in the world.

Although TOPGUN’s fame now precedes it, its beginnings were far more modest. The school was first established in a trailer in the parking lot of what was then Naval Air Station Miramar in California, as reported by Katie Lange of DOD News in the article “It Started in a Parking Lot: TOPGUN’s History Revealed.” This was done in order to improve the training of Navy fighter pilots during Vietnam.

Pedersen

In Vietnam, the Navy was suffering intolerable combat casualties in spite of having a technological advantage. As a result, the service ordered an inquiry, which Navy Capt. Frank Ault was given the command to oversee. The Ault Report, which was produced as a result, identified numerous performance issues and their underlying causes, including the requirement for sophisticated training on fighter tactics. The outcome was the Navy Fighter Weapons School, which was founded in 1969 in Miramar.

The school, known by the moniker TOPGUN, was founded with the goal of providing aircrew with the highest level of professionalism in all facets of aerial combat training. When it first started, its students received four weeks of training aboard F-4 Phantom II aircraft to improve their skills in dogfighting, or one-on-one aerial combat.

Photo by U.S. Navy

November 19, 2023 0 comment

Remembering the first Phlight of the Phabulous Phantom

by Till Daisd September 25, 2023

written by Till Daisd

With the US Air Force joining the Navy and Marines and realizing the potential of the Phantom’s versatile load-carrying capability and performance, the Phantom possessed the singular distinction of being the first true Joint Strike Fighter

The Mighty F-4 Phantom made its debut flight on May 27, 1958. The Phantom, which was designed to be a carrier-based interceptor, subsequently carried out just about every other mission imaginable, including anti-surface-to-air missile (SAM) Wild Weasel Missions, photo-reconnaissance, dogfighting, and bombing. The US Air Force, which saw the potential of the Phantom’s versatile load-carrying capability and performance, joined the Navy and Marines as the Phantom also held the unique distinction of being the first real Joint Strike Fighter.

The Phantom would initially struggle from being unduly dependent on its all-missile battery and superior technology when operating in the skies over North Vietnam against more agile North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) MiG-17s and 21s. Seeing this, the Navy transformed its Fleet Air Gunnery Unit into a new Fighter Weapon School, commonly known as TOPGUN today. There, a new generation of aviators received instruction in traditional air combat maneuvering against various aircraft. The idea of a two-man crew was also perfected, and backseaters became a crucial additional set of eyes both inside and outside the aircraft. According to multiple stories, many Phantom Phlyers owe their backseaters their lives.

How a VMFA-333 F-4 Phantom II scored the only USMC Mig Kill of the Vietnam War

Because of this “software” upgrading of its Aviators, the Navy’s Phantom community defeated the NVAF once more in 1972 with a fantastic victory-loss ratio. The Air Force decided on a “hardware” upgrade, giving its most advanced Phantom variant, the F-4E, a 20 mm Vulcan internal gun and improving its missiles and systems. The Combat Tree hostile Identification Friend Foe (IFF) identifier allowed airframes equipped with this system to detect and distinguish Soviet-made IFF systems in the crowded skies of Vietnam, and it proved to be a very important system. This lessened the possibility of “own goals” and made it possible to deploy the Radar Guided Sparrow missile system of the Phantom in a way that enhanced its combat efficiency.

Despite these technical advancements, the Air Force ratio remained around 2-1 compared to the Navy ratio after Rolling Thunder, which was 5-1. With a new generation of aviators being trained by Vietnam-era Phantom Veterans, the USAF’s performance in Desert Storm was much enhanced as a result of the USAF’s post-Vietnam implementation of its Red Flag Adversary Training system.

The Phantom saw action in Israeli hands from 1969’s War of Attrition until 1973’s Yom Kippur War, becoming a significant export success for Israel. The Phantom suffered some of its worst losses during the latter combat when it came up against Soviet-made Surface to Air Missile systems. In spite of this, squadrons changed their tactics as a result of these losses by using what IAF 107 SQD Commander Yftach Spector referred to as “physics” rather than electronics.

By the 1970s, export orders had increased the F-4’s overall production to almost 5,000 units, cementing the Phantom’s status as “The” plane of the Free World. By this time, Phantoms were regularly engaged in combat with Soviet-built MiG-21s over North Vietnam and the Middle East, and Greek and Turkish Phantoms and F-16s were engaged in similar combat over the Aegean Sea, just as both countries still do with their F-16s.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) was able to hold the line against Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran in 1980 because of its Phantom force, which would go on to become the backbone of the Iranian Air Force both before and after the Shah. Iran’s Phantom force, although having a decreasing number of airframes and spares that were irregularly filled up by both legal and illegal means, maintained roughly parity with Iraq’s Air Force until the end of the fight by employing hard-learned Vietnam and Israeli tactics. Iran still uses the Phantom today, both out of necessity and because of the tremendous might it offers.

The Phantom is still in use in a decreasing number of Air Forces across the world after flying its twilight combat missions in US Service during Desert Storm. For those who had the good fortune to grow up on the island of Oahu, where the final Active-Duty USMC Phantom squadrons and the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron operated the F-4, the Phantom’s J79s roar might ring like an echo of the Vietnam War.

This song is dedicated to everyone who has ever flown the Phantom, front or back.

Check out the Pensacola Aerospace Museum Facebook page for further aviation photos and stories.

Photo by: U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps

September 25, 2023 0 comment

Israeli pilots went to TOPGUN and taught instructors tactics for F-4 versus MiG-21

by Till Daisd July 23, 2023

written by Till Daisd

After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israelis dispatched an F-4 crew to TOPGUN

New tactics are acquired in battle, lost or discarded when conflict is over, and relearned at great expense during the following conflict. This is a recurring theme in the history of air combat. When America was sucked into the Vietnam War, this pattern continued into the 1960s. Despite having an advantage in training and equipment, US Navy aircrews were struggling to defeat North Vietnamese fighters. Lessons in air combat from earlier conflicts that had been forgotten or thought to be irrelevant due to technological advancements were once more useful.

The Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, TOPGUN, was founded in 1968 to train others in these tactics, teach Navy aircrews the fundamentals of air combat, and make sure that naval aviation “never again” forgot its lessons.

Although foreign aircrew from a number of nations, primarily Israel, Australia, Germany, and Canada, attended TOPGUN’s ground school and some, including the Germans and Israelis in 1975, actually flew against the TOPGUN instructors, very few foreign students attended the TOPGUN class, according to Brad Elward in his book TOPGUN: The Legacy: The Complete History of TOPGUN and Its Impact on Tactical Aviation.

After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, according to Dan “Bad Bob” McCort, an F-4 pilot who worked there from 1977 to 1980, the Israelis sent a crew to TOPGUN. “We had them come through as a crew in a class so that they would have interaction with the staff and the students because of their experiences and their employment of the F-4 specifically against a MiG-21, the high threat at the time,” McCort said. “I remember going out one on one against Zev Rahz in an F-4—I was in an F-5 for that mission—and watching him employ it in a way that I’ve never seen an F-4 employed. I mean, that was a no-kidding eye-opening; this is what we call a pivotal moment here.”

MiG-21PF

According to McCort, the encounter with the Israelis altered the way TOPGUN instructed pilots on the MiG-21. “We had this concept of how to employ the airplanes based on some of the results of the Have programs, and that’s what we were teaching.” McCort added, “A lot of these tactics had been, in concept, understood, but these guys having done it day in, day out (because we hadn’t got to that point yet), really clearly got it!” McCort went on: “For example, Zev was the one that showed us how to turn into a MiG-21, maintain knots, and drag the guy down in altitude to the point where his thrust-to-weight advantage and his energy addition rate and his lack of bleed would make the difference.”‘ McCort said that as he and Zev met and passed, “I was used to seeing an F-4 either try for a two-circle turn or go into a vertical move to try to get something to happen. Zev basically tried to drive it one circle, and he just dove down deep. It was a really big surprise. That was a tactic that we jumped on and refined to exploit the energy addition for the Phantom and the bleed rate in the MiG-21. This was a key component of my 1v1 lecture in the F-4 against what became a Category II airplane.

Mike “Squeeze” Gaskell, an instructor on staff in the late 1970s, vividly recalled the Israelis’ visit to TOPGUN. “I’ve never seen things done with the F-4 that these guys could do with the F-4,” said Gaskell. “They were excellent pilots,” Gaskell said there was one incident in particular that stuck with him. “During one of our debriefs, they really didn’t want to hear a lot about the TOPGUN way of doing a debrief or tactics. They kept asking questions […]. This guy would ask, ‘Now, when you did this, what were you doing?’ And he’s pretty much grilling me. I didn’t understand what it was all about until years later. Those guys were the two pilots who led the strike—Operation Opera or Babylon—against the Iraqi nuclear power plant.” Here, Gaskell was referring to the Israeli’s Jun. 7, 1981 strike. Saddam had a powerful air force at that time, “and they wanted to know more [about Iraqi Air Force air-to-air tactics]. That’s why they were there.”

The Israelis’ presence also helped TOPGUN realize how important it is to train for “one v. many” combat scenarios. Manfred “Fokker” Rietsch, TOPGUN’s first Marine Corps instructor, recalled the Israelis told the staff, “You need to develop tactics for a ‘one versus many.’ ‘How do you fight one versus many?’ So we took their word for it and said, `Okay, fine. We’ll have one versus many tactics.’” Rietsch said it was really an acknowledgment that in a large fight, “You’re not going to have a Sparrow or be two versus two, or two versus one, or one versus whatever. You’re going to have a bunch of airplanes out there. This is where it’s so important to have the internal coordination within your flight on how you sort, who targets who, and if you engage, who’s going to engage what.”‘ The “one v. many” flight was introduced in the mid-1970s under Jim Ruliffson’s command tour but was slow to take start because it demanded “a lot of assets,” said Rietsch.”

Curiously, the USAF also realized the advantages of “one versus many” training at around the same time. Donald L. Gish, then a major on active duty, wrote the following in a 1975 article for the Fighter Weapons School Review: “Other areas in which training and tactics must improve are ‘one vs many’ and ‘gaggle’ type engagements. Viewing the European scenario, we cannot expect to fight with a superior number of aircraft, not when the odds are even.” Gish wrote further, “We must anticipate and train for an element against four or six opponents, or a flight of four against twelve.” Due to their perceived impending conflict on the plains of Europe, where they would be outnumbered by Soviet and Warsaw Pact air forces, both fighter weapons schools started training.

TOPGUN: The Legacy: The Complete History of TOPGUN and Its Impact on Tactical Aviation is available to order here.

Photo by War Thunder Via Pinterest and U.S. Air Force

July 23, 2023 0 comment

The most thrilling one-on-one naval aircraft duel ever took place between Showtime 100 and Colonel Toon

by Till Daisd May 28, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Although Toon now appears to have been a propaganda mashup of multiple excellent North Vietnamese pilots, the Showtime 100 crew met a fantastic dogfighter that day

Lt. Randy “Duke” Cunningham was returning from a mission to suppress flak over Haiphong, North Vietnam, on May 10, 1972, while piloting an F-4J Phantom from VF-96 Fighting Falcons (callsign “Showtime 100”) from the carrier USS Constellation (CV-64). Willie Driscoll, a radar intercept officer (RIO), was seated in Cunningham’s back seat.

After the strike, an air fight broke out above the objective, separating Cunningham and Driscoll from their wingman.

Showtime 100 disengaged and began to fly toward the coast at 10,000 feet after downing two MiGs with one Sidewinder each when Duke spotted an adversary MiG-17 (NATO reporting name Fresco) closing in from the front. Duke aimed for a close pass in an attempt to prevent his rival from turning onto his six, but the tenacious MiG driver was able to fire his 23 mm cannons.

Cunningham and Driscoll were flying against Colonel Toon, the most renowned North Vietnamese fighter pilot and the leading ace of the conflict with thirteen American victories to his name. There is no doubt that the pilot the crew of the Falcon 100 fought that day was a fantastic dogfighter, as George Hall relates in his book Top Gun, even though it appears today that Toon was a propaganda hybrid of several excellent North Vietnamese pilots.

Duke did a six Gs vertical pullup to get away from the Fresco and planned a diving Sidewinder assault once he reached the peak of his zoom ascent. The MiG-17 was just 100 yards away, climbing canopy to canopy with his F-4J, when he glanced over the edge of his ejection seat in search of a glimpse of the enemy.

Duke lit the burners because he knew he could outrun the MiG, but he made another error by pulling away vertically, which allowed the enemy to re-open fire with his guns. The two aircraft then started a classic rolling scissors maneuver as Cunningham rolled off the top and spiraled downward, followed by Toon firing his cannons. This forced the Phantom to slow down to 200 knots, a speed at which the MiG had better turning and handling capabilities.

Cunningham managed to get away for two miles, after which he shot his Phantom into a vertical position of 60 degrees and flew towards the Fresco. But, like with the last battle, the MiG-17 tracked the F-4, and the Vietnamese opened fire from below to end it.

Cunningham and Driscoll were now ready to go on the attack, and this time they engaged the MiG-17 head-on while slightly offsetting it so that Toon couldn’t fire his cannons. Duke dragged the throttle to idle and popped his speed brakes as they approached the vertical. Cunningham had to start the burners when the Phantom’s airspeed fell below 150 knots in order to maintain altitude.

Toon retreated because he thought that if Cunningham fired an AIM-9, the Sidewinder would be fooled by ground clutter, even if the Phantom was able to pursue him. Duke shared the same worry, yet he still fired the third AIM-9 from his arsenal. The North Vietnamese fighter exploded and hit the ground at a forty-degree angle after the missile first appeared to miss the MiG.

Showtime 100 V Colonel Toon: the most epic 1 V 1 dogfight in the history of naval aviation

Their Phantom was struck by a SAM after the engagement as they neared the coast of North Vietnam, but fortunately, Cunningham and Driscoll were able to safely eject into the South China Sea. They had to fight a good fighter pilot, but they prevailed because of the lessons they had acquired while taking the Navy’s first Top Gun training.

Cunningham and Driscoll became the sole members of the U.S. Navy to achieve ace status during the Vietnam War thanks to the same lessons that helped them achieve their fifth victory. The authors of the article, Randy “Duke” Cunningham and Willie Driscoll, explain in the video below how they managed to shoot down their fifth North Vietnamese MiG during the battle.

Photo by U.S. Navy

May 28, 2023 0 comment

Clive-Killer-Caldwell

The “Top Gun from Down Under,” Clive Robertson “Killer” Caldwell, is the most Australian thing ever

by Till Daisd May 15, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Clive Robertson “Killer” Caldwell, a flying ace, merciless killer, bootlegger, mutineer, prosperous businessman, and national hero, embodies all that is uniquely Australian

The most successful Australian air ace of World War II was Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC & Bar. In the North African Campaign, Caldwell piloted Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks and Kittyhawks, and in the South West Pacific Theater, Supermarine Spitfires. He was the highest-scoring Allied pilot in North Africa and the highest-scoring P-40 pilot from any air force. In addition, Caldwell commanded two wings of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF).

‘Clive Robertson Caldwell. Better known by his nickname, “Killer” Caldwell,’ says Andrew T. Post, an aviation expert, on Quora.

‘He was Australia’s highest-scoring ace of World War II. The “Top Gun from Down Under.” Credited with 28.5 kills (throughout 300 sorties). Became an ace in a day. Fought in the Middle East, North Africa, and the South Pacific. Shot down Germans, Italians, and Japanese. Earned his nickname “Killer” in 1941, because he had no compunction about machine-gunning German pilots who’d bailed out of their stricken aircraft and were parachuting down to the ground. As he said:

“There was no bloodlust or anything about it like that. It was just a matter of not wanting them back to have another go at us. I never shot any who landed where they could be taken, prisoner.”

‘(For what it’s worth, shooting parachuting enemy pilots were fairly common among both German and Allied forces during WWII. Caldwell witnessed a close friend of his get shot by a German pilot in North Africa while descending to the ground on a parachute, and this may have hardened him to the grim realities of total war.)’

Post continues;

‘After serving with distinction in several different theaters of the Second World War, Caldwell was court-martialed in January of 1946 for allegedly smuggling liquor to US troops in the Dutch East Indies. He was demoted and left the service in February of 1946. He was also apparently involved in a mutiny shortly before the war’s end after he and several other officers resigned in protest at RAAF squadrons being assigned to strategically worthless missions. (He was cleared of all charges.)

‘After the war, he joined a cloth import/export firm in Sydney and later became a managing director. He died in 1994, being mourned by many Australians as a national hero.

‘I don’t think you could get much more Australian than that. Flying ace, ruthless killer, bootlegger, mutineer, successful businessman, a national hero.’

Post concludes;

‘He’s certainly always been one of the World War II aviators I admired the most.

‘Godspeed, Killer Caldwell.’

Photo: Marked with his initials, Wing Commander Clive ‘Killer’ Caldwell, poses beside his Spitfire at Strauss Airstrip in Australia’s Northern Territory. (AWM NWA0309) via HistoryNet

May 15, 2023 0 comment

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Jet ace Giora Even-Epstein talks about his friendship with US Navy’s ace Randy Cunningham

by Till Daisd February 12, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Duke took me on a visit to TOPGUN and I got to meet with the pilots there. The meeting was planned to last just 30 minutes, but I ended up sitting with them for three hours. They peppered me with questions about my dogfights…

Giora Even-Epstein, an Israeli kibbutz native who was born in 1938, had a fascination for military aircraft and the aces that flew them. He yearned to pilot the French Mirage III but was denied access to flying training due to a cardiac condition. He reapplied, was rejected once more, but was amazingly approved as a paratrooper. Following 500 jumps, he reapplied for admission to the Israel Air Force (IAF) pilot training program and was accepted. He eventually received his wings and was able to fly and battle throughout the pivotal times in the Israel Air Force’s combat history.

Epstein earned the title of highest-scoring jet-mounted ace with the most confirmed victories after more than thirty years of service to the IAF.

In his autobiography “Hawkeye,” Epstein discusses not only his involvement in the intense conflicts of 1967’s Six Day War and 1973’s Yom Kippur War, but also the legendary fighter pilots he encountered along the road, including Randy Cunningham, Pierre Clostermann, Al Deere, and Douglas Bader.

As Epstein recalls in Hawkeye, the IAF garnered a lot of interest following the latter conflict. ‘After the war, we received requests to host delegations from other air forces that wished to learn from us and our experience in the war. Each of these delegations, especially the ones from the United States, the country that had aided us so much in the war, were gladly welcomed and assigned a squadron commander or other senior officer as a guide.

One of the most intriguing delegations that I got to host after the war was made up of American media people who were visiting a number of Middle East countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. I became friendly with two of them: Dan McKinnon, owner of a small television station in San Diego, and Randy Cunningham, a big hulking guy known as ‘Duke’ who’d been a TOPGUN instructor and commander of VF-126, the Aggressor Squadron at NAS Miramar, near San Diego. Duke was the US Navy’s only pilot ace in the Vietnam War — as a Phantom pilot based on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV 64), he shot down five enemy planes.

Leading jet ace Giora Even-Epstein on his friendship with US Navy’s ace Randy Cunningham and on a tempting offer he received from Blue Angels CO — John W. Warner, Secretary of the Navy, Lieutenant Randall H. Cunningham, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) William P. Driscoll, and Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt. Jr., Chief of Naval Operations
(listed from left to right) meet in Mr. Warner’s Pentagon Office, June 1972, in a ceremony honoring the two aviators, the Navy’s only Vietnam War air “Aces”. Lt. Cunningham piloted F-4J “Phantom” jet fighters, with LtJG Driscoll as Radar Intercept Officer, when they shot down five enemy MiGs (four MiG-17s and one MiG-21) in January and May 1972. They were members of Fighter Squadron 96 (VF-96), based aboard USS Constellation (CVA-64). In this photo, Cunningham and Driscoll are holding models of F-4 fighters.

‘He told me all about his experiences as a pilot in the US Navy. In one of our conversations, he asked me how many planes I’d shot down. “I have a few kills,” I replied.

‘As part of their visit, I took them on a tour of the Golan Heights. Lying near the road where we stopped was some debris from a Syrian MiG-17. The two ignored the signs warning of minefields and ran to grab some pieces to take home as souvenirs.

‘At the end of the visit, I took them to the airport. Duke asked me again, “Tell me the truth, how many kills do you have?”

‘”Seventeen,” I said. They were both stunned. It looked like all the air went out of them at once.

‘A year later, they both came back to Israel for another visit, this time as private citizens. By then I was commander of No. 117 Squadron at Ramat David and I took Duke up with me in a two-seater Mirage for a drill of a dogfight against a Phantom. Years later, on one of my visits to the United States, Duke, who was still an active pilot and instructor in the famous TOPGUN Fighter Weapons School, which specialized in training US Navy pilots, introduced me to the other pilots as Israel’s biggest ace and boasted to them that on his visit to Israel he had flown in a Mirage and ‘ripped’ the Israeli pilots in a dogfight…’

Epstein continues;

‘My friendship with Duke grew stronger over the years. At one point, he decided to run for Congress as a Republican from San Diego. Since running an election campaign requires a lot of money – the estimate at the time was two million dollars – Duke organized fundraising events and asked me to come to one. As I was still an active pilot then, I consulted with the air force commander, Avihu Ben-Nun, about the invitation. Ben-Nun advised me that it was better that I pass as long as I was still flying with the air force.

‘Two years later, when Duke ran for Congress a second time, I was no longer an active pilot, and I agreed to make an appearance. I gave a speech before several hundred invited guests, many of them wealthy Jews who’d paid $5,000 each to attend the event, and I explained how important it was for there to be pro-Israel representatives, like Duke, in Congress. The evening was successful, and Duke went on to be re-elected. After the event, Duke also took me on a visit to TOPGUN and I got to meet with the pilots there. The meeting was planned to last just 30 minutes, but I ended up sitting with them for three hours. They peppered me with questions about my dogfights, and I gave detailed answers to each one.

‘My other friend from that delegation, Dan McKinnon, was a former helicopter pilot who specialized in rescue missions. In one remarkably complex operation, he had rescued 40 civilians from a ship that was about to sink. He came from an affluent family, his father was a personal friend of President Ronald Reagan, and Reagan appointed him head of the Federal Aviation Administration. He went on to enter the history books of American civil aviation when he brought in military air traffic controllers to break the big strike by civilian air traffic controllers in 1981. He later founded a small airline called North American.

‘On one of my trips to the United States, together with Sara and my son Guy, Dan invited us to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, which had parts of aircraft carriers and real planes used by the US Navy. Later on, he arranged a special surprise for me: an air show by the Blue Angels acrobatic team. After they landed, the team commander told me that had he known before about my record as a pilot, he would have invited me to join them in the show.’

Epstein concludes;

‘To make up for it, he made me a very tempting offer: He’d add me to the aerobatic team and in return, I’d agree for one of my kills to be credited in his name. Of course, he was joking.’

Hawkeye is published by Grub Street Publishing and is available to order here.

Leading jet ace Giora Even-Epstein on his friendship with US Navy’s ace Randy Cunningham and on a tempting offer he received from Blue Angels CO — During his eventful visit to the US in 1998, Giora enjoys meeting the Blue Angels beside one of the team’s F/A-18 Hornets after watching their home-base air show demonstration.

Photo by U.S. Navy, Israel Defense Forces and Grub Street Publishing

February 12, 2023 0 comment

First Top Gun Graduates

The first Top Gun Graduates to kill a MiG was one of these “Phantom Boys”

by Till Daisd November 30, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Beaulier went after the second MiG, using a ‘lag pursuit’ tactic to give his F-4J Phantom II the correct distance for an AIM-9D shot…

After their MiG-21 shoot-down on March 28, 1970, Lt. Jerry Beaulier (left) and Lt. (jg.) Steve Barkley (sporting his famous mustache) of VF-142 are shown eagerly inspecting a celebratory bottle of champagne, perhaps taken from the carrier battle group commander.

Both men were Topgun grads from the very first class, and Barkley had served as a pilot in the USAF. When he thought back on his many years of working with Jerry, he said, “Being a bit older and possibly more focused on quality and survival, our missions tended to be quite well planned and “by our book.” Nobody ever saw a MiG at that stage of the war, much less get within Sparrow range of a bandit. Despite this, they meticulously planned their strategy for such a situation and conducted numerous BARCAP missions in the hopes of being able to attract a MiG to the surface of the sea.

These Men were the first Top Gun Graduates to score a MiG Kill

According to Peter E. Davies’ account in U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War 1969–1973, on March 28, 1970, Beaulier and Barkley were launched in F-4J “Dakota 201” (BuNo 155875) as the replacement spare for VF-142 CO Cdr Ruel E. Gardner in a CAP flight led by CVW-14 commander and F-8 MiG killer Cdr Paul Speer. They carried three external fuel tanks, two AIM-7Es, and three AIM-9Ds in preparation for a prolonged fighter sweep. The flight, which was vectored into MiG-21s by PO White aboard the destroyer USS Horne (DLG-30), the day’s “Red Crown” radar control ship, included a third F-4J with the crew of Lt. Cdr. Gary Hakanson and Lt. (jg.) Dave van Asdlen.

At the 25-mile range, they were cleared to fire AIM-7Es, but Hakanson’s radar was inoperative, and Barkley’s also died as they approached the target, ruling out Sparrow launches. ‘I was really disappointed — the perfect set-up for a head-on shot and no radar! I fought it for about five miles and then gave up’ recalled Barkley. It was later realized that the radar in Speer’s F-4 was also faulty, being limited to a one-mile range.

Beaulier closed after spotting the MiGs 10,000 feet above them. The MiGs dove in their direction as the F-4Js rose to intercept. Beaulier wheeled behind the leading MiG-21, but his F-4 quickly ran out of fuel since he was still towing three external tanks that created drag. The first MiG’s “Atoll” attempt at Speer’s Phantom II was unsuccessful, but Beaulier pursued the second MiG using a “lag pursuit” strategy to put him in position for an AIM-9D hit. The missile’s seeker head wasn’t properly set, yet it still managed to explode inside the MiG-21’s exhaust. We stopped and got a look as the unlucky aircraft fell into the cloud below us at the MiGs’ “four o’clock” position. We never witnessed an ejection, Barkley observed.

Pham Thanh Nam, an inexperienced 921st FR pilot, perished in the collision. As the Rules of Engagement (RoE) at the time prohibited assaults on MiGs unless they threatened a reconnaissance or BARCAP mission, the F-4 crew’s success could not be acknowledged publicly. Eventually, a report was made public that claimed Beaulier’s MiG-21 had been intercepted as it was attacking an RA-5C.

These Men were the first Top Gun Graduates to score a MiG Kill

A MiG kill was a significant accomplishment for the F-4 pilots, especially during a period of relatively limited activity on the ground. Successful crews were also honored with specially crafted cakes, widespread media coverage, and congratulations visits with top war managers. Even though aircraft carriers were primarily platforms for attack aircraft, similar praise for successful assault aircrew and missions was uncommon.

Photo by U.S. Navy

U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War 1969-73 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

November 30, 2021 0 comment