FTDK, if you watched Top Gun you'd realise that the hard-deck is a theoretical lower limit of a sequence of, in this case aerobatics. If they were operating at 5,000ft the hard deck might be 3,000ft. A sensible way to operate. My hard deck is 50ft agl.
And VH-XXX's aerobatic training consisted of 16 serious sessions of that movie Top Gun!
J
