In this episode of Hoot's Hangar, Hoot discuss the making of "Top Gun: Maverick" with Navy F/A-18 pilot Frank Weisser. Frank recounts his involvement in the film, detailing his transition from the Blue Angels to the Super Hornet and his role in low-altitude scenes. He praises the professionalism of aerial coordinator Kevin LaRosa and the attention to detail from Paramount. Frank also shares his experiences flying with Tom Cruise and the meticulous efforts to ensure authenticity, including matching flight suits and hair for actors. Being a retired Navy Blue Angel, Frank expresses gratitude for the opportunity to contribute to the film.

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"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"

Hoot interviews Top Gun: Maverick F-18 Super Hornet pilot Frank "Walleye" Weisser. Frank is a former Blue Angels pilot who was invited to perform special maneuvers for the critically acclaimed movie.

“Top Gun actually had a guideline that says we will not take a Lieutenant Junior Grade pilot, because he isn't experienced enough or advanced enough. But because Jim Ruliffson had been one of the founders and he sent me to Top Gun they let me they let me come to the school. And so I may have been the very first lieutenant junior grade to go through Top Gun.” Hoot Gibson.

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"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"

Where else but Hoot Gibson’s Hangar can you hear the inside stories of what it’s like to become both a NASA astronaut and a country music star in the same conversation?

Season two is now streaming. In this episode of Hoot Gibson’s Hangar, watch and listen to the second installment of Hoot’s conversation with fellow pilot and country music superstar, Aaron Tippin.

In 2025, both men will be inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation Hall of Fame!

Join us for aviation’s most informative podcast, Hoot Gibson’s Hangar!

"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"

We are excited to premier the highly anticipated Season 2, of Hoot Gibson’s Hangar with two episodes that you just cannot miss. When highly rated pilot and Country music superstar Aaron Tippin recently visited Hoot’s Hanger, an absolutely compelling conversation about flying, careers, family and music took place. Aaron Tippin has been a country chart topper for decades. He has released a total of nine studio albums and two compilations, with six gold certifications and one platinum certification among them. He has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including three Number Ones. But, it turns out music wasn’t Aaron’s first love. It was flying!

"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"

Hoot and pilot/country music star Aaron Tippin share their childhood memories on how they got started in aviation. They managed to sing a little bit to :)

"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"

“Because what happens during the reentry, we hit the top of the atmosphere, which is about 80 nautical nautical miles up - 400,000 feet. The flight path angle when we hit the air has to be one half degree down, one half a degree. If it's steeper than that you're gonna burn up. Because the thermal protection system on the orbiter, which the orbiter by the way is made out of aluminum, that's not going to tolerate more than about 300 degrees. We're gonna see 9000 degrees, because we're 25 times the speed of sound - Mach 25.” -Hoot Gibson.

Hoot Gibson’s Hangar, aviation’s premier podcast, hosted by America’s premier aviator, Hoot Gibson, “The Man That Can Fly Anything."

Don’t miss a single episode. Video podcast air exclusively on Air2AirTV and aviation’s premier Youtube channel - Dronescapes, producing aircraft documentaries, exclusive stories and interviews from veterans, pilots and aces, in their own words. WWII missions, Vietnam's stories and much more!

Hoot Gibson’s Hangar audio podcast can be downloaded from all top podcast directories: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Alexa, Overcast, PocketCast, Castro, Castbox, Podchaser and many more.

RESOURCE TAB:

You can also download the audio podcast on Air2AirTV by clicking on the RESOURCE tab below each episode. Hoot’s list of aircraft flown to-date - 162.

"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"

“I led the race for the first two laps. I was in the turn passing the pylons, and of course, all my attention is devoted out in front of me because we're only about 30 feet above the ground and I'm doing about 225 miles an hour. All of a sudden, I feel this, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. And I was actually in a little bit of trouble because of where I was sitting at such a low altitude. When I started a right turn, I noticed my right wingtip looked like turkey feathers. I had noticed after I heard this bang, bang, bang, that all the race planes had landed. My buddy Don walked up to me after I taxied to a stop, and I asked him what happened? And he said, You mean you don't know that Rocky hit you and that he went in and crashed? I said, No.” -Hoot Gibson.

Hoot Gibson’s Hangar, aviation’s premier podcast, hosted by America’s premier aviator, Hoot Gibson, “The Man That Can Fly Anything."

Don’t miss a single episode. Video podcast air exclusively on Air2AirTV and aviation’s premier Youtube channel - Dronescapes, producing aircraft documentaries, exclusive stories and interviews from veterans, pilots and aces, in their own words. WWII missions, Vietnam's stories and much more!

Hoot Gibson’s Hangar audio podcast can be downloaded from all top podcast directories: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Alexa, Overcast, PocketCast, Castro, Castbox, Podchaser and many more.

RESOURCE TAB:

You can also download the audio podcast on Air2AirTV by clicking on the RESOURCE tab below each episode. Hoot’s list of aircraft flown to-date - 162.

"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"

Robert “Hoot” Gibson Wins Unlimited Gold Race in “Strega” at 2015 National Championship Air Races, unseats six-time gold winner Steve Hinton in “Voodoo.”

Robert “Hoot” Gibson won the Unlimited Gold Race at the Fifty-Second Annual National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, Sept. 20, unseating six-time gold winner Steve Hinton Jr. Gibson flew the P-51D Mustang Strega and covered the course in a time of 7:52:54, for a speed of 488.983 mph.

16 September 2011: In the late afternoon, six highly-modified World War II-era fighters were competing in a preliminary heat for the Unlimited Division championship of the National Championship Air Races. The Galloping Ghost, race number 177, was flown by its owner, James Kent Leeward. At 16:24:28.9 Pacific Daylight Time, The Galloping Ghost‘s angle of bank rapidly increased from 73° to 93° in just 0.83 seconds. The air racer, corrected by its pilot’s aileron input, rolled back to the right, but then violently pitched up and the pilot became unconscious. The airplane essentially flew itself into an inside loop, then crashed into the ground directly in front of a seating area. The Galloping Ghost was totally destroyed. Jimmy Leeward and 11 spectators were killed, with at at least 69 others injured.

“And so what we found with the trim tab was that the elastic stopped nuts, which are there to give enough friction so that the bolts can't work their way loose. The elastic stopped nuts were too old and too worn and the bolts were able to back out and give some slop to the hinge points of that trim tab. And at the speed Jimmy was going, that airplane went fast enough that that trim tab fluttered, which means it's bouncing back and forth. It couldn't stand the stresses and the trim tab broke off. And at that point, that 17 G pitch up happened.” -Hoot Gibson.

Hoot Gibson’s Hangar, aviation’s premier podcast, hosted by America’s premier aviator, Hoot Gibson, “The Man That Can Fly Anything."

Don’t miss a single episode. Video podcast air exclusively on Air2AirTV and aviation’s premier Youtube channel - Dronescapes, producing aircraft documentaries, exclusive stories and interviews from veterans, pilots and aces, in their own words. WWII missions, Vietnam's stories and much more!

Hoot Gibson’s Hangar audio podcast can be downloaded from all top podcast directories: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Alexa, Overcast, PocketCast, Castro, Castbox, Podchaser and many more.

You can also download the audio podcast on Air2AirTV by clicking on the RESOURCE tab below each episode.

"THE MAN WHO CAN FLY ANYTHING"