Most pilots at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township would not admit to being excited about Friday’s long-awaited release of “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Lt. Keith Crozier, however, is not like most pilots.
“I’m your typical aircraft nerd,” said Crozier, who dreamed of becoming a pilot since he was a kid, a passion that was partially fueled by the films he watched such as “Memphis Belle,” a 1944 documentary about a Boeing B-17F that served as a flying fortress during World War II.
He’s also the son of Bryan Crozier, who served in the United States Navy (1981-1987) aboard the USS Enterprise, which was the aircraft carrier used in the film of the first “Top Gun” movie starring the then 24-year-old Tom Cruise.
“I’ve probably watched that movie 100 times,” said Crozier, who remembers his dad talking about how crazy it was having a Hollywood film crew aboard the Enterprise.
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At that time it was not only the largest ship in the U.S. fleet but the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Since Crozier’s father worked on the ship’s nuclear reactors he spent a great deal of time below the deck. However, when he was on the flight deck he had his Nikon camera and spent a great deal of time capturing the planes landing and taking off. “He used to have this trunk, filled with photographs,” said Crozier, who, much to his father’s dismay, tacked his favorites on the wall of his room.
“They were really cool shots,” Crozier said.
Now it’s his family, including his wife Colleen and their two kids, who have become fans of air travel, flying with him, when he’s taking their small plane out for a spin, or waving from Selfridge Field when he’s piloting a KC-135 Stratotanker for the 127th Wing, 171 air refueling squadron.
After earning his bachelor’s degree and then becoming an officer in 2019, Crozier was selected to attend the pilot training program at Laughlin Air Force Base, similar to the one featured in both movies. In fact a magazine article about the flight training school in California is what attracted Jerry Bruckheimer to make the movie, “Top Gun.”
The cover of the magazine said, “At Mach 2 and 40,000 feet over California, it’s always high noon.”
“I saw that cover and I said, ‘We gotta do this. This looks great,’” recalled Bruckheimer. “It’s ‘Star Wars’ on Earth.”
“Top Gun” did nearly reach ‘Star Wars’ proportions at the box office. The rocket-boosted, testosterone-fueled sensation that not only became the No. 1 film of 1986 but made aviator glasses and leather Bomber jackets hip just as it did military service. Even the Navy was moved to set up recruitment tables in theaters and as a result enlistments soared.
“I think in some corny way I was attracted to the thrill of being a pilot,” Crozier said, but then again, he had his dad as a role model and he has a very mechanical mind, drawn to knowing how things work and how fast they’ll go. In his KC-135, that’s about 580 mph with a jet flying below him, taking in fuel.
Cruise, who is famous for performing his own stunts, wanted all the actors portraying pilots on the long-delayed “Top Gun: Maverick” film to fly in one of the F-16 fighter jets, so they could understand what it feels like to be a pilot operating under the strain of immense G-forces, according to an article by Bloomberg — just as Cruise, 59, did for the original “Top Gun,” in 1986. A Pentagon regulation, however, bars non-military personnel from controlling a Defense Department asset other than small arms in training scenarios. Glen Roberts, the chief of the Pentagon’s entertainment media office said the Navy did allow the production to use planes, aircraft carriers and military bases. He also noted that the real Top Gun pilots aren’t the cocky rule-benders portrayed in the film. Instead, they’re studious – air nerds like Crozier – who toil away for hours in the classroom and participate in intense training flights at military flight schools around the country. The actual Top Gun school for fighter pilots is at the Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.
As for the new movie, Crozier has every intention of seeing it, and likely more than once.
“I have a son; he just turned 5,” said Crozier, who also has a daughter, 3, and a baby on the way. “I think it will be really cool to have a new ‘Top Gun’ movie to watch with him.”
FYI
For the air nerd or families just looking for a great event, Selfridge 2022 Open House and Air Show is in the works.
WHEN: July 9 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and July 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township.
The headliner for this year’s show is the Air Combat F-22 Demonstration Team. A full schedule of aerial performers and ground displays is still being developed.
For more information visit teamselfridge.com/.
Sweet sound of outdoor music starts this weekend in many Macomb County venues
