WWTBAM Bored

Yeah, there may have been other ways to rejoin the formation, but I'll bet there's something in there about why he was slow to be in the formation in the first place.

Great scientific explanation for the maneuver; same reason why the space shuttle does hypersonic S-turns. You can't just step on the brakes to slow down when you're flying. The maneuver was because he was going so fast to catch the formation, he then had to slow down to match their speed. The roll slowed him down enough to get in place.

I'll bet his superiors said something more pungent than "Whoa, that's not right" when they saw it. More like "WTF??"

"Maverick, you just did an incredibly brave thing. What you should have done was land your plane! you don't own that plane, the tax payers do! Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."