Flaherty ’15 a ‘Maverick’ at Lockheed Martin

By Melissa M. Lindell

This summer, when “Top Gun: Maverick” roared into movie theaters worldwide, viewers got to see Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell take his need for speed to a whole new level — hypersonic speed. Thirty-six years after the first “Top Gun” movie, Mitchell is now a test pilot flying the Darkstar hypersonic airplane. Though the plane is conceptual and developed specifically for the film, the design and models for the aircraft came from the same group that develops actual hypersonic aircraft: Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®.

One member of the Skunk Works team is REBECCA (JANSHEGO) FLAHERTY ’15, an alumna of Clarkson’s mechanical engineering program who has been with Lockheed Martin since she graduated. As a mechanical engineer, Flaherty designs fullscale air vehicle models. In partnership with Paramount Pictures, she was responsible for building the Darkstar vehicle, with a fully functional cockpit for iconic actor Tom Cruise. We recently spoke with Flaherty about her experience working on the film. Here is what she had to say:

What are some of your Clarkson experiences that helped prepare you for this project with “Top Gun: Maverick”? For this project, and all the work I do, working in the labs for ME 201-401 (Experimental Methods in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering) helped give me real-world, hands-on experience in school. SPEED projects like Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge helped as well!

What types of career opportunities have you had with your Clarkson education?

My Clarkson education gave me the opportunity to work for Lockheed Martin right after graduation in 2015, from designing electronics components to designing next-generation aircraft — it’s been a rewarding and exciting experience thus far!

Did you have any interesting internships or co-ops at Clarkson?

I worked for GE; it helped me align my interests more with the career path I ended up choosing with LM.

Please tell us more about your work with “Top Gun: Maverick” — building the Darkstar vehicle, keeping it structurally sound, etc.

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works was approached in mid-2017 to provide technical expertise for the Top Gun film’s sequel,

“Top Gun: Maverick,” which premiered on May 27, 2022. The team designed and produced a conceptual, reusable, piloted hypersonic aircraft, referred to as Darkstar in the film. They helped design realistic flight gear, shared artifacts for the set and arranged site tours and demonstrations to support the effort. The team provided insights to drive realism into the storyline, serving as consultants throughout filming. My role specifically was to work with the studio to design, from scratch, a realistic cockpit and execute the build of the cockpit. Additionally, I worked the structural design of the fuselage alongside the stress team and oversaw the fabrication and assembly of the model.

What other next-generation aircraft are you designing? What are some types of these aircraft that we may have seen in the past that Lockheed Martin has designed?

While I can’t talk specifically about the work I do, some of the things that Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is currently working on are hypersonics. Hypersonic solutions are an urgent national need being worked on across the corporation. In support of this critical mission, Lockheed Martin has invested in developing and demonstrating hypersonic technology for over 60 years. We are at the forefront of operationalizing hypersonic capabilities, systems and engineering. Hypersonic technology is progressing, and the work being done across Lockheed Martin today is laying the foundation for a Reusable Hypersonic Vehicle, such as Darkstar, to one day be possible.

It must have been pretty intimidating working on a project like Darkstar. Were you already designing it or was this just for the movie?

This was just for the movie. Paramount provided us with their final CAD, and I got to work designing the internal structure and working to make it real!

What was it like working on a movie set?

RF: Definitely different than any other workplace I’ve ever set foot in! It was amazing to see the team on the set ebb and flow around seamlessly setting up for new scenes. A well-oiled machine! Some of those folks I would absolutely call “Skunky” in my book.

For those who don’t know, what is Skunk Works?

Founded in 1943 by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works delivers breakthrough capabilities that redefine the future of flight. Just as Kelly intended, we’re not big on titles or showmanship — we simply tackle the most daunting technical challenges in the simplest way possible, to quickly deliver solutions that make a real difference for our customers.

With a focus on pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, the Skunk Works team embraces an integrated digital approach to design and manufacturing to reduce cost and accelerate schedule. From artificial intelligence to augmented reality, the digital thread is helping us connect, collaborate and innovate with even more agility. Skunks are moving quickly to develop disruptive solutions in these core capability areas:

• Hypersonic Technology.

• Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance.

• Joint All-Domain Operations.

• Future Fighters.

• Next Gen UAS.

At Skunk Works and across Lockheed Martin, we’re looking for extraordinary talent — people who are eager to be on the cutting edge of technology that will define our future; comfortable with ambiguity; enjoy being part of a team; love to learn; and are willing to push the boundaries.

For more information about Lockheed Martin’s role in the film, including imagery and behind-the-scenes videos, visit lockheedmartin.com/topgun.

Photos courtesy of Lockheed Martin