Topgun Days--A Great Read

I cruised with Dave "Bio" Baranek on USS RANGER back in the day when he was a department head in VF-2 and I was an FNG in VF-1. Bio had a solid reputation in Airwing-2 as an expert RIO (former Top Gun instructor) and he was quite likeable (not a bad combination). We lost touch over the years, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear he wrote a book.

I highly recommend "Topgun Days:Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks." [I'm sure his publisher insisted on the sub-title, as Bio is as modest as a F-14 RIO and former Top Gun instructor can be.] Even having done many of the same things as Bio (though a few years behind him), I found his book insightful and highly engaging--detailed, but far from dry.  Plus, the behind-the-scenes anecdotes from filming of the blockbuster movie were entertaining--even 25 years after the fact (damn, are we that old!). As one reviewer exclaimed: "RIOs finally get there due!" Yee haw!

For more info on Topgun Days or Bio, click here.

[Disclaimer:  Bio did give me permission to use his gorgeous photo of the Tomcat in burner at sunset which heads this blog, but no, it wasn't in exchange for me promoting his book. In fact, he had no idea I was posting this blog entry.  Really!]