Customer Reviews

Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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I enjoyed this book and thought it was exceptional. The cover subtitle may be deceptive since the book is really an excellent six to seven year mini-biography of the author's long journey from being a brand new Naval Flight Officer ensign out of flight training, through transition training to become a Grumman F-14 Tomcat Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), through his first squadron tour and two deployments, to his time as a Topgun instructor. During his two years in Topgun, "Bio" worked hard to become a polished and highly respected instructor giving threat and tactics lectures, flight briefs and, of course, flying on regular training exercises. During the latter part of his tour he became involved, as many others at NAS Miramar did, in the filming of the major motion picture "Top Gun" and in making it the success it was. His behind the scenes descriptions about the filming of the movie and his helping make the actors dialogue more creditable is fascinating and informative. Additionally, his insider perspectives on the natural tension between "absolute reality and authenticity" and the often competing requirements of creating a compelling and commercially successful cinematic experience, and how the major active duty Navy pilots and RIOs assigned to the project were able to strike a balance and make credible compromises between fact and fiction are compelling and make for a greater understanding of the movie version.
First and foremost, however, "Bio's" narrative is an exceptionally un-affected and honest telling of the trials and tribulations of a "new guy" trying to learn all there is to know about flying the F-14, adapting and finding his place in squadron life, and the growing pains along the way. His narration of his time in Topgun describes the high professionalism and dedication of the instructors and yields a very humble description of his first "murder boards" and the work and long hours that went into the preparation for every lecture he gave and every flight on which he flew. In addition to his personal story, "Bio" includes numerous sidebars or "intel briefs" that explain in greater detail aspects of Naval aviation like aviator call signs, why there is a RIO in the F-14, Topgun's origin and mission, and simulating enemy aircraft and tactics in the air. These intel briefs help the reader understand the story and the environment the author populated.
Anyone wanting a genuine and honest peek at Naval aviation and the effort required to get there and excel will find "Bio's" book a must read pick for the 2010 summer reading list.

CAPT Spike Prendergast, USN (Ret)

'Bio's' exeptional narrative style really puts you in the cockpit and tells it like it must have been back in the Topgun glory days. I've never seen a clearer, easy-to-understand description of carrier flight operations. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in behind-the-scenes insights into the making of the Topgun movie, and should be required reading for future and aspiring naval aviators. The book's photos themslves are worth the purchase price! Great read!

Bio's book - "Top Gun Days" is a great read that offers a seldom-seen perspective into the world of Naval Aviation; that of the Radar Intercept Officer. RIOs in the Tomcat community were every bit as important as the guy in the front seat, and Bio's accessible yet engaging style of writing gives you a clear picture of what it meant to be shot off the end of a really big boat and yet not have any direct control over whether or not you made it back aboard in one piece.

RIOs finally get there due!

Any Naval Aviation enthusiast would welcome "Top Gun Days" to their bookshelf.

For anyone who's ever wondered what it would be like to fly a front-line fighter jet, survive an ejection over the ocean, be a Topgun Instructor teaching the art of aerial combat, dogfight against the best pilots in the world and generally live the dream of ultimate flying, then this book will give you the ride of your life.

So thumbs up, salute and hang on!

I had the pleasure of knowing the author, and the cast of characters in the book well. I too was an F-14 RIO who flew F-14s and attended TOPGUN. Bio does a very nice job capturing the life of an F-14 RIO, life in a fighter squadron on and off the carrier and attending TOPGUN as a student. He dives deeper once he is assigned to TOPGUN as an instructor; what was required, how the training was done, what students and instructors experienced, and particularly how complete the environment was on teaching tactics, and how professional the instructors were in teaching their subject areas. At the same time, the language, content and style of the book make it very easy for a complete outsider to follow along and understand. His sidebar boxes with explainations of key areas help guide the reader. Many may enjoy his comments on the making of TOP GUN during his tenure and his role, and those of other instructors in making the movie, and the impact of its release on all of us. I have some other memories of the shooting, but after the release, having attended TOPGUN was repected outside of the Fighter Community, and we were no longer automatically assumed to be in the Air Force as we flew.
As a side note, two of the TOPGUN instructors with Bio went on to get four stars in the Navy.

Bio has captured a piece of history and time very well.

If you want to know every detail of being a Top Gun pilot this is the book for you. Dave "Bio" Baranek describes in detail what it is like to be a rear seat radar officer in an F14 and other planes. But rather than just describe life as a pilot he also backs it up with a crash that is downplayed as both pilots survive when the ending could have been much different, his experience as a Top Gun student and instructor and also what it was like during the filming of Top Gun the movie on which he had significant technical and flying involvement. The book specializes in highlighting the redundancy that is required for safety. And probably its highest point is describing in detail the technical nature of the task of a Top Gun instructor and student. But this book is not for everyone and frankly, I'm not sure I would have kept reading if one of his fellow instructors wasn't also a close friend of mine. That's not meant as a negative. I read for entertainment. This book is about detail and those really wanting to know about flying high performance planes for the Navy and it does an exceptional job of this. Just make sure you are ready for a technical book of mundane tasks involved like passing your "murder boards" to be able to instruct your first class and the time necessary to write an upgrade of a class.

These guys are real heroes and incredibly talented and this book demonstrates the talent and commitment necessary to be a top pilot. But it doesn't read as a fast action book but rather a summation of the job of the pilot/instructor.

Like many other kids and aviation fans around the world, Top Gun (the movie) left me awe struck when it first came out in 1986. Cheesy plot and over-the-top characters aside, no over movie that I have seen since topped the aerial cinematography, showing the classic Tomcat (and other planes) in all its glamour.

A short while after seeing the movie I purchased a book by the same name, authored by the late George Hall, which marvelously documented Topgun during that period in text and photos. One of the photos featured two Topgun instructors "dogfighting" with their hands, with MiG silhouettes painted on the wall behind them. Their names were Greg "Hollywood" Dishart and Dave "Bio" Baranek.

Twenty-five years later, and I, still an aviation buff in the closet, am checking out the store at the Air&Space Museum, Udvar Hazy center while I recognize a name stuck in my head from childhood on an eye catching book cover titled "Topgun days". Rather than purchasing the book on the spot, I rushed home and did some web searching. After checking out Dave "Bio" Baranek's web site (highly recommended), I decided to come back to the museum and purchase the book when he was there for signing.

Meeting "Bio" was a delight. Although he was busy doing some marketing for the book, I managed to spend about five minutes talking to him about aviation stuff and basically enjoying the company of a high energy, really nice guy and a true aviation fan. Before I left with my autographed copy "Bio" inquired how I can help spread the word about his book. Finding out I would be pretty much useless in this regard, we just shook hands and parted as friends (I hope).

Well, "Bio", not all is lost! How about a review in Amazon?

"Topgun days" is the most enjoyable book I had read in a long time. "Bio" clearly and meticulously follows the training course of a RIO from step one all the way to the highest echelons of the fighter profession in the Navy. His writing is straight forward and is peppered with subtle humor. I found myself trying to read the book as slowly as possible to savor the experience. In addition to being one of the best and finest "Bio" is also one of the lucky ones to serve at Topgun during the period in which "Top gun" the movie was filmed. The third part of the book is dedicated to the contribution of the Topgun instructors to the movie and the impact that it had on them during the filming and after it came out.

The part about the movie is definitely a pleasure read, however what impressed me most about the book is the descriptions of the personal investment "Bio" made in order to progress in the Navy as a RIO and particularly the hard work that he put in order to legitimately earn a place as a Topgun instructor. The descriptions of the ACM engagements are fascinating not only from the technical aspects (and "Bio" is doing an admirable job depicting aerial combat scenes in a way that, as others already said, puts the reader in the cockpit), but also since it comes from different points of views in "Bio's" career, from a rookie RIO, to a fleet aviator, a Topgun student and eventually a Topgun instructor (acting as the bad guy, or "Jester" if you will). As Bio progresses through these stages and flies them as a RIO, the reader also "progresses" through them and shares the mistakes, the achievements, the excitements, and several chilling moments.

Although "Bio" is simply telling his (extremely unique) story, he also incidentally provides some useful life lessons for success that any ambitious organization can heed- teamwork, constructive peer criticism, self empowerment, attention to details, constant strive for perfection, and just good old plain hard, hard work. This added value makes the book a perfect gift for new graduates or new hires/employees, and a much better option than other flat out "how to succeed in business and life" guides.

If there's one disappointment it is that the story ends abruptly with "Bio's" end of tour at Topgun. Not that the book promises more, but I was anxious to know what happened afterwards to "Bio" and his colleagues, and how did he progress to become a squadron CO.

"Bio", I'd like to thank you for a great book which I will surely revisit in the future. If you ever find the time and the patience to publish a follow-up book, I'll be the first (OK, maybe the second or 10th, but I'll be there) in line to get it autographed by you!

I was born in 65, my father had started to work for Grumman Aerospace @ the same time. He started as an accountant, by 69 however Leroy Grumman asked my father to attend engineering classes. Shortly there after my dad began working on the airframe of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. He would go on to work on the frames of the A-6 Intruder as well as the E-2 Hawkeye but the F-14 is my pride and joy.
I would go on to many Grumman functions such as: Picnics, on occassion Christmas parties and one of my favs: Grummans 50th annivesary. I grew up loving the Tomcat and it was my father who took me to see the Tomcat Fly in the movie: The Final Countdown. Shortly thereafter I had asked my father what it takes to fly the Tomcat and he replied: "I was praying for this day." Because of my father's ties with the US Navy and Grumman Aerospace I would go on to take many tests both for mental and physical abilities and what was so nice then if I had failed any part: "I was not obligated to join the US Navy". Fortunately for me I passed all just the same and it was perhaps one of the: "proudest days of my life." Sadly I would not go on to fly the Tomcat for my father in respect to my mother asked me for her approval and she out of fear of going to war with then: "Russia" had asked me to decline and yep I had.
Grumman or the Grumman my father knew is no longer around and the Tomcat as you may know was offically retired from the Navy in 2006. Grumman from all the stories my father has told me over my years was a wonderful company to work for. All her employees worked as a "Team". They took great pride in their work and built perhaps some of the finest aircaft our US Military has seen to date. For me I've had the great fortune of chatting with Dave "Bio" over FaceBook and would go on to say I look foreward to meeting him in person one day. He has written a wonderfully well laid out novel of his own personal experiences of flying the Grumman Tomcat and has done so well you almost feel like your in the RIO's seat with him. Also if your a fan of the movie Top Gun this is a great read into seeing how the movie was actually made. I have personally bought the book from Amazon and have just recently finished it so to you the person reading this comment please go out and purchase this book, "you won't be disappointed" sincerely Al Schneider to you F-14 enthusiasts: "Anytime Baby" :) ps Dave its time to write another.

Top Gun Days is a very unique book. We see many military aviation books that come out from the pilot's point of view. This time around we get to feel what it's like to sit in the back seat and view the fighter world from the eyes of a highly experienced and decorated RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) in the mighty Grumman F-14 Tomcat.

Dave "Bio" Baranek provides the reader with an honest, humble and detailed account of what it was like to train and fly as a RIO. We get to experience what it was like to turn and burn in a Tomcat during a dogfight and being able to enjoy the feeling of going vertical in full afterburner. We get to read about an incredible near death scenario through Dave's training, experience and raw instinct. His amazing ability as a storyteller as well as his ability to recount this event from many years ago in such amazing detail makes Chapter 5 my personal favourite in his book. In addition to all of this, his experience as a Top Gun student in the F-14 and instructor on the F-5F outline the hard work and stress associated with this role, such as preparing for the well described murder boards that every instructor experienced. The pursuit of perfection was evident at Top Gun from both students and instructors in order to ensure that the graduates who went through the Top Gun program were among the best naval aviators in the world.

And then there was the movie..... the one that made the F-14 Tomcat a star as well as many of Hollywood's brightest young and upcoming actors....... Dave was there and he had the pleasure to take part in the movie..... Chapter 13 is also a favourite of mine in the book and you will see why. Dave not only flew in order to help make the movie but he was a key player in many other areas that helped to make the movie as realistic as possible.

For someone who's favourite movie is Top Gun, Dave's book took be back to the time I was almost 8 years old and in love with aviation. It brought all of those memories of the movie back for me when I saw it for the very first time. As a professional pilot student hoping to become an airline pilot one day, Top Gun Days makes me wish that I got to experience military aviation before pursuing the civilian or airline side of flying.

Top Gun Days is also an excellent tribute to the F-14 Tomcat, a fighter that has been retired from active service since 2006. Dave sweeps the dust off of this beauty of an airplane, which brings her back to life in the pages of this book. Dave truly gives us the ride of our lives in the Tomcat while contributing to promote the Tomcat's legacy in US Naval Aviation and within the fighter aircraft world.

Top Gun Days is a must read and a necessary book in the library for all of those who love aviation and for those who dream of soaring through the skies.

If you are looking to get a lot of insight into the blockbuster movie, Top Gun, than this book might not be for you. Though, if you are a fan of aviation and would like to know what it is like to be a Navy fighter pilot and get a look into Miramar than you will get pleasure from reading this book.

Mr. Baranek does a good job of explaining the different fighter jets, the status rankings of the different officers, and terminology without getting too detailed that non aviation related people would understand what he is talking about. If you did forget what some of the terminology was than there was an index in the back of the book. I am not usually a fan of non fiction or memoirs as I find them sometimes to be dry. This was not the case for this book. For an aviation fan like me this was a book not to be missed.

Warning as you might become addicted to the breathtaking photographs. There was a point that I was just staring at the photos and than remembered that I was reading this book. There are some photos of Anthony Edwards "Goose" and Tom Cruise "Maverick" featured in this book.