Spending my Birthday at TOPGUN
With the National Championship of Air Races being canceled in year 2019, we were more than excited to get back to Reno when the news that the 2021 races would go on….Joe and I have been going to the...
Tagged: Topgun
Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Five
PART 5: Supplemental Notes Further Reading: Donald E. Auten’s Roger Ball! The Odyssey of John Monroe “Hawk” Smith, Navy Fighter Pilot, tells the story of an influential figure in Topgun and the Navy fighter community and provide additional information...
Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Four
(Sporty F-5E joins on his flight lead seconds after takeoff from NAS Miramar.) PART 4: The Only Constant Is Change All organizations either evolve or expire, and NFWS is no exception. In the years and decades after I left,...
Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Three
PART 3: Critical Decisions and Events of the Mid-1980s. I was an F-14 RIO who joined my first Fleet fighter squadron in 1981. In 1982 I attended the Topgun class as a student (by then it was five weeks), and in 1984 I was selected to return as an instructor. The following events and decisions occurred during my time as an instructor and contributed to Topgun’s evolution and continued validity.
Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Two
PART 2: Topgun’s Early Years: the Foundation (Navy Fighter Weapons School F-5E Tiger II gets close for a photo.) When considering why Topgun flourished, much credit must go to the enduring culture established by the earliest instructors and handed...
Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part One
(F-5F, F-5E, and A-4 provided a wide range of threats to challenge Navy fighter pilots and RIOs.) Have you ever wondered how the Navy’s Topgun program became a world-renowned center of excellence in the serious business of air combat?...
Dr.Sky Interviews TOPGUN Instructor- Dave “Bio” Baranek….
(photo by David Brown) I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dave “Bio” Baranek, a former TOPGUN instructor and author in his own right! He is the author of “TOPGUN DAYS, Dogfighting, Cheating Death and Hollywood Glory As One...
Photorecon Goes to Topgun!
On July 24th and 25th Photorecon was fortunate enough to have its first photocall at NAS Fallon. NAS Fallon is the home of the Navel Strike Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) and the Fighter Weapons School (Topgun). Photographers from Photorecon,...
