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The long-awaited release of “Top Gun: Maverick” might finally be upon us this May, according to the Paramount Pictures’ website for the movie.
The movie’s release on the silver screen will show first-of-its-kind special camera footage inside and outside the cockpit of F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft. What makes this movie release extra exciting, especially for the DAiTA Group’s Prototyping Instrumentation & Experimentation (PIE) Department Aircraft Instrumentation Division (AID), is the hand they took in creating the specialized footage.
Paramount Pictures wanted an authentic experience, one that could only be accomplished by utilizing special camera technology to capture the buzz of being in an F/A-18. Paramount and Sony teamed up to create custom IMAX-quality cameras that were small enough to fit in an F/A-18 cockpit. The movie experience will be about as close as any of us non-F/A-18 pilots will get to being in the actual jet. All the action scenes are practical effects, not computer-generated imagery, or CGI.
The actor’s reactions to G-Forces and the adrenaline of the flights are the real thing. While the actors aren’t really flying the F/A-18s, the camera placement makes it feel as though they are and plays a key role in this sequel to the classic 80s fighter-jet flick.
Ask the Experts
The movie production company received a massive amount of support from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of the Navy (DoN) in the making of this film. This support, specified in the publicly released DoD Scripted Production Assistance Agreement with Paramount Pictures Corporation, granted access to several naval stations, bases, vessels, and “internal and external placement of the Production Company’s cameras on F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets using NAVAIR-approved camera mounts.”
Where exactly do you go to get NAVAIR-approved camera mounts? The experts, of course!
AID is no stranger to setting up cameras on aircraft. They have an entire team of experts that regularly design, analyze, fabricate, assemble, perform quality control, and install cameras and other instrumentation on aircraft to collect flight-test data.
From design of the camera mounts to detachment support, AID and a good chunk of its workforce were involved in the aircraft camera set-up of this movie. AID Mechanical and VX-23 Instrumentation branches did some heavy lifting in three high-stress phases of support in very short time frames.
When the project began, it was kept very hush-hush. “We were working behind the scenes in secrecy before the public even knew about the movie,” said Chris Beck, Mechanical Instrumentation Branch Head and one of the team’s coordinators.
In addition to keeping the project secret, AID was working on fleet-priority projects, including F/A-18 Super Hornet and T-45 Goshawk Physiological Episode Instrumentation projects and CH-53E low-speed precision control systems.
Phases I and II
In Phase I, the Mechanical Instrumentation Branch (MIB) worked on the F/A-18 pylon and keel camera enclosures, with a very limited timeframe. “We had less than three weeks to design, fabricate, analyze, and assemble the first three camera and battery enclosures; and then facilitate approvals and get flight clearances,” Beck explained.
The cameras being used were not ruggedized equipment, and the design of the enclosures needed to be strong and stable to prevent any foreign object damage or articles falling from the aircraft. The design required quick access doors to allow for camera battery changes, media swaps and downloads, without needing to remove or realign the cameras. The enclosures also had to be ventilated to keep the cameras from overheating in confined spaces.
Enclosures were composed of various alloys, including aluminum, copper-wire mesh and carbon fiber. MIB mechanical technicians and machinists fabricated the various components by using a computer numeric controlled (CNC) waterjet cutter, three- and five-axis mills, plus manual and CNC press brakes. All parts and assemblies went through strict review for quality control.
In Phase II, MIB had less than 60 days to design and fabricate the enclosures for dorsal (top of aircraft looking aft) and centerline belly cameras, which required approvals for carrier operations on some of the camera mounts. “The team worked 12-to-16-hour days for multiple weeks to meet schedules–during production and also for the final phase of location shoots,” Beck said.
Phase III
The final phase included assisting camera and production crews on set at various locations, which proved to be exciting and challenging. Filming for the movie took place aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and naval air stations Lemoore, Fallon and Whidbey Island.
Some of AID’s camera, mechanical, and electrical technicians got to travel to these locations to assist production teams with setting up cameras for F/A-18 flights. MIB and AID’s VX-23 Instrumentation Branch helped set up external cameras on three F/A-18 aircraft from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 122 “Flying Eagles.”
Depending on the shot needed, cameras were mounted at different locations on the F/A-18s to capture an “eagle-eye” perspective of the flights. AID’s technical support consisted of bore sighting, focusing, and setting up f-stops on the external cameras, along with inspection of the camera equipment and mounts to confirm they were flight ready.
The stress on the team was immense during filming that lasted weeks at different locations, but they pulled through.
“Things changed almost by the hour due to filming challenges and further complicated things—weather, clouds, pilot availability, actor availability, aircraft availability, ranges, and so on,” said Beck. “Coordinating shoots in three or four locations within days of each other—moving people, cameras, and equipment—was extremely challenging logistically. This team of professionals not only supported Top Gun filming but were also able to meet all department and fleet priorities with zero impact; these technicians and engineers are the true behind-the-scenes heroes.”
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2022 13:57 |
| Story ID: | 417316 |
| Location: | PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 162 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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