Today, at the big airshow convention in Vegas, they did a 1 hour moderated session with Dan "Yank" Pedersen... who led the creation of Top Gun... and Darrell "Condor" Gary, one of the original 8 Top Gun instructors. Jim Kidrick from the San Diego Aerospace Museum was the moderator.
You hear about the early TG history, but often, the personal details and stores are missing. This was a real historic look at how Yank started it.
He spoke very highly of the AF pilots he worked with at Area 51... but still had fun poking fun at the AF. From his stories, the TG and AF guys worked hard together to innovate air combat. I hope some of y'all were in the room with me today. I think they videoed it. If I can find it, I'll send a link.
Anyways, it was a fantastic look at Naval aviation history.
You hear about the early TG history, but often, the personal details and stores are missing. This was a real historic look at how Yank started it.
He spoke very highly of the AF pilots he worked with at Area 51... but still had fun poking fun at the AF. From his stories, the TG and AF guys worked hard together to innovate air combat. I hope some of y'all were in the room with me today. I think they videoed it. If I can find it, I'll send a link.
Anyways, it was a fantastic look at Naval aviation history.
