Home
QR Code

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

Photo of F-14 Tomcat
Photo © Dave Baranek

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, April 25, 2016 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Photo of Dave Baranek

Dave "Bio" Baranek

"Safety Lessons from Top Gun"

ABSTRACT -- Flying supersonic fighter jets safely calls for careful preparation and constant attention. Though most of us will never sit in the cockpit of a jet, we can benefit from those same safety principles.

In this talk, Mr. Baranek will relate episodes from his flying experience and will take them apart to examine the safety lessons.

He will be happy to answer questions about the movie Top Gun, the Topgun squadron, and the F-14 Tomcat.

SPEAKER -- Dave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 to receive the gold wings of a Naval Flight Officer in 1980. Four years later, after deployments, Cold War confrontations, and further training, he became an instructor at the Navy's elite Fighter Weapons School, better known as Topgun.

Then, in August 1985, Bio was assigned to combine day-to-day flight duties with participation in a Pentagon-blessed project to film action footage for a major Hollywood movie focusing on the lives, loves, heartbreaks, and triumphs of young fighter pilots, titled Top Gun.

Baranek's later experience with the Navy included working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and with the US Seventh Fleet. He retired in 1999 and now works as a defense contractor in the Washington, D.C. area.

In 2010, Baranek described his career, in and out of the movies, in the book Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks. The book is illustrated with photos Dave took while serving in the Navy. The book includes, a "Top Gun Viewing Companion", with descriptions of the filming of the scenes in which the F-14 Tomcat appears. Copies of his book will be available for purchase from GEWA for signing by Mr. Baranek.




Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov