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40th anniversary of ejection
In Dec 2021, CAPT Bill Switzer, USN (Ret.) and I celebrated the 40th anniversary of our ejection. He was at Yank's Air Museum in Chino, California, and I joined by video. The story is told in my book Topgun Days and on the Martin Baker website.
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"Top Gun" fans, San Diego, May 2022 - panel
The "TopGun Fans" Facebook group (link) held a multi-day event in San Diego in May 2022, and one of the events was a panel discussion with people involved in making the movie. I'm third from the left.
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"Top Gun" fans, San Diego, May 2022 - book signing
After the panel discussion, panelists signed photos, and in my case books. We had great attendance and there was a lot of enthusiasm.
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"Top Gun" fans, San Diego, May 2022 - group
On the final day of the meet up we took a group photo on the USS Midway museum. Photo by David Partridge, used with permission.
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"Top Gun" fans, San Diego, May 2022 - Kansas City BBQ
The group left the USS Midway museum and went to the famous Kansas City BBQ restaurant, which was a location of several scenes in the movie, for good food and relaxation. Photo by Cindy Lee.
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Oshkosh AirVenture, July 2022
In July I attended the EAA's AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This photo hardly gives an idea of the enormous scale of the event with thousands of aircraft and displays, and hundreds of thousands of visitors.
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AirVenture book signing
I had a couple of sessions at the Author's Corner desk, signing copies of my books for aviation enthusiasts.
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AirVenture TOPGUN and "Top Gun" panelists
EAA arranged a Theater in the Woods session to discuss the TOPGUN squadron and the "Top Gun" movie (the original). From the left: me, "Duke" Cunningham, "Willy" Driscoll, "Viper" Pettigrew, "Bozo" Abel, and our host, "Roloff" Jackson. Photo by Nicole Voltz, used with permission.
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Theater in the Woods audience
When I was introduced and walked out on stage, I snapped this photo of the audience. People were amused when I held up my phone to take the picture.
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TOPGUN and "Top Gun" panel
On stage in front of thousands at the Theater in the Woods. It was a great audience and enjoyable evening. Photo by Nicole Voltz, used with permission.
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Tailhook Convention, Mooch and Bio
At the Tailhook Convention in Reno, Nevada, in September 2022, I sat down with podcatser and former F-14 RIO Ward Carroll (callsign "Mooch") for an interview about TOPGUN and the Tomcat. Enjoyed talking to a friend about our experiences back in the day.
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Tailhook Convention, "Top Gun: Maverick" connection
The Tailhook Association arranged a very informative panel about the recently-released "Top Gun: Maverick." I learned a lot, because I wasn't involved in this one. Afterwards, I talked with aerial coordinator Kevin LaRosa (center) and Navy technical advisor CAPT Brian "Ferg" Ferguson (right), who happens to be a fighter pilot and commanding officer.
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Interviewed for upcoming Smithsonian Channel F-14 program
In October 2022 I was interviewed for a new Smithsonian Channel program on the F-14, part of a new series of "Air Warriors." I was one of several former pilots, RIOs, and others to be interviewed, to present a fresh look at the Tomcat. It'll be availbale in May 2023.
