Wolfpack on the Prowl aka “Starwars on Earth”
This is one of, if not the most iconic pictures Heater has ever captured on film. This is the photograph that inspired the movie TOP GUN (1986)
Description
This is one of, if not the most iconic pictures Heater has ever captured on film. This is the photograph that inspired the movie TOP GUN (1986).
Heater called this shot “Wolfpack on the Prowl”. Taken when he and his squadron mate were returning from a mission and he was flying “lead” of a four ship element in the mid 80’s.  Heater took his Nikon out of his helmet bag, set the settings and literally pointed the camera over his shoulder hoping to capture all of his wingmen in formation and RIO Ted “Slapshot” Carter in his back seat. Everything worked out and this was the result.
“Wolfpack on the Prowl” was featured in a little magazine article about the TopGun school at NAS Miramar, which happened to be seen by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson while they were waiting at a doctor’s appointment one day. It became “Star Wars on Earth!” to them and as they say, “the rest is history”. Don and Jerry were so mesmerized by the photo and knew that they HAD to make a movie about Top Gun and its pilots. Heater ended up supplying many of his photos to actually be used in the movie, being a technical advisor, an “extra” in several scenes throughout the movie, and even filmed some of the air-to-air sequences in the movie from the backseat of a Tomcat while using a Pana-flex camera.
