TOP GUN

Real Fighter Jet Vid Better Than a Movie

“Permission to buzz the tower?”

Sometimes it seems as though the heyday of epic fighter jet flicks is in the past. Remember that adrenalin rush from watching Top Gun or Iron Eagle, metal birds of prey blasting through the stratosphere, battling it out to the tune of corny rock music? Yet who needs Top Gun 2 or Iron Eagle number whatever when, thanks to modern technology, we can catch a breathtaking ride on the real thing?

Bolting a Red Dragon cinema camera with a multi-axis gimbal to prevent camera shake to another plane, Saab captured this unbelievable promotional footage of their Gripen fighter jet in action. Made in Sweden, the Gripen is a popular, relatively low-cost fighter often sold to smaller nations such as Hungary, Brazil, and Thailand. It’s also, as the video shows, damned photogenic.

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James Joiner

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