The image hovers over the deep blue water, pausing briefly over its glistening reflection before rolling upwards towards a wide angle shot of the stout USS Midway.
The Top Gun theme song plays in the background. Momentarily, Tom Cruise will make his grand entrance in a helicopter.
This event, the “Top Gun: Maverick Global Premiere Red Carpet Fan Experience” was hosted on the USS Midway before the movie’s premier. Livestreaming the action, MTV interviewed the cast and captured the superstar actor’s entrance.
The opening shot of the livestream, over a glistening San Diego Bay, can be attributed to the aerial photography of Ken Bitar, Coronado resident and one of the two drone pilots for the event.
Working with drones
A retired U.S. Navy pilot, Bitar began working with drones in 2016.
With a commercial license from the Federal Aviation Administration, a business license from the city of Coronado, he started KB Drone Services, which provides professional aerial photography and video.
Bitar knew he wanted to be a pilot as a child, since his father was an airline pilot. He said he sees the same blood in himself— the desire to fly.
During his time in college at Oklahoma City University, Bitar got his private pilot license, then joined the Navy and graduated flight school in 1978.
Navy career
His first duty station was in Pensacola, Florida before moving to Coronado in 1986 as the commanding officer of the Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eleven (HC-11) at Naval Air Station North Island.
He said he closed out his Navy career as the Executive Officer of the Naval Air station in Sigonella, Sicily.
Bitar and his wife Patricia, moved back to the island in 2005, where sons, Kenny and Kevin finished school.
For Bitar, it was easy to transition from being a Navy pilot to flying drones.
“I was no longer flying any helicopters like I did in the Navy, so I thought this would be neat to do.”
-Ken Bitar
“I was no longer flying any helicopters like I did in the Navy, so I thought this would be neat to do,” Bitar said. Once I got more interested in it, I started reading more about it and seeing how I could make some money on it.”
Besides his notable work with the “Top Gun: Maverick” premier, Bitar’s aerial photography can be found in the livestream of the USS Midway Museum’s ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Awe of aviation
His work also is featured on Coronado TV Channel 19, and he has completed aerial footage projects for the city of Coronado and Rancho Palos Verdes.
“Some people play golf…I was flying drones.”
-Ken Bitar
“Some people play golf,” Bitar said. “I was flying drones.”
He currently works for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in operational support on the Navy base and does aerial drone photography part-time.
“I love being on the base and seeing and hearing the airplanes all the time,” Bitar said. “I am still in awe of aviation in general. Coronado is the perfect place to be exposed to that all of the time.”
