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Topgun Days
- Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
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Publisher's summary
Dave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the Cold War, he became the only one of that initial group to rise to become an instructor at the navy's elite Fighter Weapons School. As a Topgun instructor, Bio was responsible for teaching the navy's and Marine Corps' best fighter pilots how to be even better. He schooled them in the classroom and then went head-to-head with them in the skies.
Then, in August 1985, Bio was assigned to combine his 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: Top Gun. Bio soon found himself riding in limousines to attend gala premieres, and being singled out by giggling teenagers and awed schoolboys who recognized the name "Topgun" on his T-shirts. The audiobook ends with his reflections on his career as a skilled naval aviator and his enduring love of flight.
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Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks is a focused description of one man’s exhaustive climb to the pinnacle of his career as fighter pilot. This autobiography by Dave Baranek will prove enjoyable to those generally interested in military life as well as those who wish to live vicariously through an expert fighter pilot. Baranek explains the patience and discipline required to ascend the fighter pilot career ladder. He segues into his life as role model for Hollywood’s glamorized version of topguns. Assigned to create action footage for the Tom Cruise vehicle Top Gun, Baranek himself briefly becomes a pop phenomenon. Baranek’s pride and sincerity can be heard in narrator Jeremy Arthur’s entertaining recital.
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The Vietnam War is one of the most misunderstood military conflicts in 20th-century America. Showcasing 72 true stories told by American servicemen who fought from the skies, this unique and historically significant collection is a stunning record of the air war in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s.
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Overall worthy and perspective broadening
- By Clayton Cartier on 11-03-20
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Flying from the Black Hole
- The B-52 Navigator-Bombardiers of Vietnam
- By: Robert O. Harder
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Air Force navigators and bombardiers have long labored under the shadow of pilots - their contributions undervalued, misunderstood, or unknown to the general public. This was especially the case with the non-pilot officer aircrew in the Vietnam and Cold War-era B-52 Stratofortress. Of the six people who operated the bomber, three wore navigator wings - two of those men were also bombardiers, the other an electronic warfare officer. Without the navigator-bombardiers in particular, executing the nuclear war strike plan or flying Southeast Asian bombing sorties would have been impossible.
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Today I learned something new.
- By Rob Wilson on 02-20-21
By: Robert O. Harder
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Topgun
- An American Story
- By: Dan Pedersen
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Dan Pedersen takes listeners on a colorful and thrilling ride - from Miramar to Area 51 to the decks of aircraft carriers in war and peace - through a historic moment in air warfare. He helped establish a legacy that was built by him and his "Original Eight" - the best of the best - and carried on for six decades by some of America's greatest leaders. Topgun is a heartfelt and personal testimonial to patriotism, sacrifice, and American innovation and daring.
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I loved it!
- By "airplane_cfii" on 10-09-19
By: Dan Pedersen
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Into the Black
- The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her
- By: Rowland White, Richard Truly
- Narrated by: Eric Meyers
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Using interviews, NASA oral histories, and recently declassified material, Into the Black pieces together the dramatic untold story of the Columbia mission and the brave people who dedicated themselves to help the United States succeed in the age of space exploration. On April 12, 1981, NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral. It was the most advanced, state-of-the-art flying machine ever built, challenging the minds and imagination of America's top engineers and pilots.
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Great Story About a Flawed Spacecraft
- By John on 12-04-16
By: Rowland White, and others
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Hunter Killer
- Inside America's Unmanned Air War
- By: T. Mark Mccurley, Kevin Maurer
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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The first-ever inside look at the US military’s secretive Remotely Piloted Aircraft program - equal parts techno-thriller, historical account, and war memoir. Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), commonly referred to by the media as drones, are a mysterious and headline-making tool in the military’s counterterrorism arsenal. Their story has been pieced together by technology reporters, major newspapers, and on-the-ground accounts from the Middle East, but it has never been fully told by an insider.
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No political Bias. Just a narration of modern soldier's perspective.
- By Irfan M. Ibrahim on 11-17-15
By: T. Mark Mccurley, and others
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Harnessing the Sky
- Frederick "Trap" Trapnell, the U.S. Navy's Aviation Pioneer, 1923-1952
- By: Frederick M. Trapnell Jr., Dana Trapnell Tibbitts
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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A pilot of calculated courage, "Trap" entered the Navy when test pilots were more like stuntmen than engineers. Airplanes had not yet come into their own as weapons of war, and they had an undeveloped role in the fleet. His vision and leadership shaped the evolution of naval aviation through its formative years and beyond. When the threat of war in 1940 raised an alarm over the Navy's deficiency in aircraft - especially fighters - Trap was appointed to lead the Flight Test Section to direct the development of all-new Navy airplanes.
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Superb Book
- By Peter H. Christensen on 09-27-19
By: Frederick M. Trapnell Jr., and others
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First Man
- The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
- By: James R. Hansen
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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When Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon’s surface in 1969, the first man on the Moon became a legend. In First Man, author James R. Hansen explores the life of Neil Armstrong. Based on over 50 hours of interviews with the intensely private Armstrong, who also gave Hansen exclusive access to private documents and family sources, this "magnificent panorama of the second half of the American twentieth century" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) is an unparalleled biography of an American icon.
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Not really 'unabridged'
- By A Reader on 06-06-18
By: James R. Hansen
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Warriors at 500 Knots
- Intense Stories of Valiant Crews Flying the Legendary F-4 Phantom II in the Vietnam Air War.
- By: Robert F Kirk
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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As the ground war struggled for success in Vietnam, it became intensely clear that the skies had to be owned by the allies for victory to have a chance. It was the F-4 and its pilots that made that possible. The author, a Phantom pilot himself, details intense stories of undaunted and valiant American pilots with their legendary fierce Phantom. These are personal stories of intrepid courage and self-sacrifice to get the mission done - whatever the cost.
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Great Material
- By Mark Murphy on 12-31-14
By: Robert F Kirk
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Hogs in the Sand
- A Gulf War A-10 Pilot's Combat Journal
- By: Buck Wyndham
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The mighty, iconic A-10 Warthog was first thrust into battle in Operation Desert Storm. The men who took it through walls of flak and surface-to-air missiles to help defeat the world's fourth-largest army were as untested as their airplanes, so they relied on personal determination and the amazing A-10 to accomplish their missions, despite the odds.
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Weak
- By KL on 12-29-22
By: Buck Wyndham
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Bogeys and Bandits
- The Making of a Fighter Pilot
- By: Robert Gandt
- Narrated by: Thomas Block
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Americans are fascinated by the undeniable mystique of the elite world of Navy fighter pilots. In Bogeys and Bandits, Robert Gandt takes listeners on a thrilling ride in the FA-18 Hornet, one of the fastest, sleekest, and deadliest aircraft in the world. Gandt lived and worked with several pilots learning to fly the Hornet: the identical twins from Middle America; the computer nerd with a penchant for speed; the grandson of a Tuskegee Airman, trying to live up to a proud legacy; and two women dealing with the post-Tailhook world of the Navy.
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Great book but the narrator...
- By AshliDF on 08-03-17
By: Robert Gandt
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Come Up and Get Me
- An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger
- By: Joe Kittinger, Craig Ryan
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A few years after his release from a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp, in 1973, Colonel Joseph Kittinger retired from the Air Force. Restless and unchallenged, he turned to ballooning, a lifelong passion as well as a constant diversion for his imagination during his imprisonment. His primary goal was a solitary circumnavigation of the globe, and in its pursuit he set several ballooning distance records, including the first solo crossing of the Atlantic in 1984. But the aeronautical feats that first made him an American hero had occurred a quarter of a century earlier....
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A rewarding read
- By Andrew Braddick on 03-25-13
By: Joe Kittinger, and others
What listeners say about Topgun Days
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Anonymous User
- 03-16-21
Fantastic
I wasn't sure about the book when I bought it but it couldn't hurt to give a fair shot. I found that this is a fantastic book that doesn't just take you into what it was like to work on the movie but it takes you into what it's like to go to and instruct at Top Gun.
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- christopher e arcouette
- 03-12-24
The inside story
Very interesting to hear what life is a naval aviator and top gun. Instructor is really like. I also really enjoyed the technical details about each of the jets flown.
Thank you for your service!
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- Nickolas Williamson
- 07-01-20
Great listen
My only issues was the narrators lack of understanding of military jargon. He says "oceana" wrong the entire book, and just has a general lack of knowledge as to what some of the provided acronyms mean, which definitly broke the continuity of the story for me on more than a few occasions. Still a great story.
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- B. McGovern
- 01-03-22
Up close and personal Topgun!!
I would recommend any Topgun fan listen to Topgun Days. Dave “Bio” Baranek thoroughly covers his time at Topgun and provides amazing insight to the Topgun movie production. Lots of little nuggets of behind the scenes movie knowledge. Baranek also clearly walks the reader through the true Topgun experience!!
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- Michela
- 06-16-22
Great Book- Easy listening
Not so technical and detailed with a lot of characters to keep track of like some books are! The kind of style I enjoy when I can’t put my mind too deep into something! A little more humour in the book and inflection in the narrator’s voice would be nice - but he did a great job. Writer did not come across as arrogant! Easy to understand and pleasant to listen to…
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- JPatrick_725
- 10-08-22
Inspiring
Great story and honor to peek into the lives of America's best. My grandson (six yrs.old) saw the movie and loves jets now . He already knows a lot of names and specs. This has caused me to buy more books,models, and videos for him. This has also been a bonding experience for us. Hopefully your story will create a new wave of "Topguns" and the world's best. Thank you for your service ! SALUTE !
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-18-21
Very interesting and enjoyable
Very interesting story and generally well told. occasionally repeating information and the way times are narrated wind me up.
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1 person found this helpful
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- T. V. Mackey
- 03-17-21
Excellent inside look
This was on my wish list when I noticed Audible was promoting the story. It was particularly interesting to me as an aviation enthusiast. The author is a former student and instructor who gives the reader a good inside look at the program. For we civilian pilots and enthusiasts, it's probably pretty good high level look at the program. The narrative is not very technical, so even if the reader is drawn because of being a fan of the movie, it will still give a behind the scenes insight.
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- Randy
- 02-19-13
Top Gun or Topgun
I admit it, I’ve watch Top Gun the movie over and over. I love it. So when I had to a chance to read how it was put together I jumped at it. I had no reviews to help me (I really depend on reviews) so I felt a need to write a this review.
Bio (his call sign and it is in the credits I checked) our author tells us about how he learned to be a REO. A reo is the weapons officer in the back seat. Bio tells us about having to eject on a failed landing attempt. Bio relates how they study and study and study to fly those jets with such safety and menace.
Top Gun the school according to Bio didn’t have a trophy given to the winner of the class. Tony Scott took some liberties with that one.
I think the preparation for the flights, the preparation for the teaching of the classes our author lets us know that being in a fighter jet is for in shape young men and women that are well trained and dedicated.
When I listen to a book some go by real fast, and that usually means to me it was riveting. This book flew supersonic by me and of course, I did stream the movie this weekend to check the credits and see exactly what Bio was talking about.
If you liked the movie this book is for you.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Mommy B.
- 12-05-22
Very good book
The book was very good, but I thought that the narrator could start rambling at times.
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