Jonathan Spano was rejected from his childhood ambition of becoming a US military pilot because his eyesight fell short of the Navy’s demanding standard. Decades later, the California businessman has funded his way into the cockpit and become a stunt pilot on Top Gun: Maverick.
Spano, now 48, co-founded Traffic Management Inc with his brother in 1995 after the pair began placing cones and road barriers for a crane company linked to their father.
What started as a teenage side business grew from an office in their great-grandmother’s garage into a nationwide work-zone safety firm. Spano says the company now has more than 50 locations, employs nearly 3,000 people and generates over $1 million a day in revenue.
That success ultimately helped him return to aviation. Around two decades after launching the company, Spano bought a Cessna following advice from his finance chief, who suggested that a plane could help him travel more efficiently between offices as well as provide tax advantages.
He learnt to fly and began replacing long drives across California with journeys by air. As Traffic Management expanded, so did his collection of aircraft, progressing from smaller planes to a private jet and eventually a helicopter costing about $2 million.
How Jonathan Spano became a Top Gun: Maverick stunt pilot
Spano’s interest in filmmaking led him to work with Hollywood aerial coordinator Fred North, who helped install camera equipment on the helicopter for film and commercial projects.
North later suggested adapting Spano’s Embraer Phenom 300 jet to carry the same type of equipment. Spano spent about 18 months and more than $1 million modifying and certifying the aircraft, which became known as the Phenom Camera Ship.
The jet was fitted with two camera systems and stabilisers weighing about 300lb. Its design allowed it to travel at more than 300 knots while filming close to military aircraft, including sequences involving F-18s.
Working alongside veteran film pilot Kevin LaRosa Jr, Spano flew a substantial part of the jet-to-jet aerial work in Top Gun: Maverick, including the aircraft-carrier scenes. The film’s stunt ensemble went on to win the Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by a stunt ensemble in a motion picture.
Spano’s camera jet has since been used for advertising campaigns for aviation companies including NetJets, Flexjet, Gulfstream, Embraer and Delta. He also worked on the aerial footage for National Geographic’s America the Beautiful, including images of the Northern Lights over Alaska, which received an Emmy nomination.
Paramount has announced that a third Top Gun film is in development, with Tom Cruise expected to return as Maverick. Spano said he was already in discussions with the director and remained hopeful that his aircraft would be involved.
His route into stunt flying was far removed from a conventional military career. Having worn glasses as a child, he said he realised that his eyesight would prevent him from meeting the Navy’s requirements.
Instead, he continued building the business while undertaking thousands of hours of aviation training. Spano has recalled studying late at night after his family had gone to bed, before getting up at 6am to prepare for work.
“Be bold, take risks, but you know also you have to put in the hard work and dedication,” he said, describing the approach that took him from a family traffic-control venture to the cockpit of a Hollywood camera jet.
