Mistakes Made in the Movie


In the above scene, Maverick "greets" a Mig pilot by flying inverted. There is no possible way the two fighters could be that close.

In the famous Mig encounter, Goose and Maverick encountered a Mig-28. There is no such plane. The fighter was actually a F-5 Tiger II which the Navy now uses primarily as adversaries in training pilots in dogfighting. Also when the migs fired its guns, they come out the wings, but the F-5s duel cannons are on the nose cone side-by-side. Another interesting note is that the migs in the movie carried AIM-9L sidewinders and not french anti-ship missiles. (Thanks to PMciner for the info)

Everyone knows that the Mig 28 doesn't exist right? Well even if it did it wouldn't be a Mig 28 as featured in Top Gun. Since the US named all Russian aircraft based on intelligence, the habit was to name all air-to-air fighters in odd numbers (such as the Mig 29) and all air-to-ground fighters would be assigned an even number. By that rational, the Mig 28 would not have been such a proficient dogfighter.

U.S. Pilots never report an enemy plane as a MiG. They are required to say the NATO call sign for the appropriate aircraft, such as "Fishbed" for a MiG-21 or "Fulcrum" for a MiG-29.

Normally pilots fly with NOMEX flight gloves and with their visors down. That said, Jake Liberston reminded me that it wouldn't make sense for the producers to pay Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise millions of bucks and then hide their faces behind visors. :) Also even though Navy pilots are required to have Nomex gloves with them, they are not obligated to wear them.

When Maverick is launched to help Iceman, he is more than 110 miles from him. Claiming he'll be there in 30 seconds, he would have to travel at 13,200mph (Mach 18). His F-14's top speed would be Mach 2.

When Maverick says hes gonna hit the brakes and the mig will fly right by, he actually increases the throttle instead.

When Maverick is landing then decides to pull up and help Cougar he reduces speed instead of going to full afterburner.

At the end when Maverick is getting ready to catapult off of the carrier. They show the thrust deflector going up. If you look at the engines, you can tell that it isn't an F-14 sitting there, but an A-6 intruder.(Thanks to PMciner & Jake Liberston for the info)

During the dog-fighting scenes, the armaments and markings sometimes change from scene to scene. In fact, at some points, the f-14's don't even have an armament, rather they have a device used in training.

When Maverick is driving his motorcycle along the runway with the planes taking off, you can see the bed of the truck he's atop at the bottom of the screen.

After Iceman is hit for the first time in the final dogfight, the smokemaker on the back of his Tomcat is clearly visible, emitting smoke.

Immediately before Maverick's morning "hop," Maverick is told, as he and Goose are walking to their jet, that Iceman just won his encounter that morning. Maverick motivates Goose by saying "I have the need...the need for speed." In Maverick's hop, he loses his encounter with Viper because he left Hollywood (his wingman) in the advantageous position for missile lock behind Jester but Jester apparently out maneuvered Hollywood to win his encounter and returned to obtain missile lock on Maverick's six (his rear). Goose says "its okay...Viper got Iceman before he got us." Well, thats impossible because Iceman won his encounter before Maverick started his, so how did did Iceman lose after he won. Additionally, Viper did not win the encounter with Maverick but Jester won the encounter. (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

Numerous violations of standard Navy operating procedures. Numerous errors of fact regarding Navy equipment and their capabilities.

When Maverick is in the water holding goose after he died, there is a chord attached to Mavericks back holding him so he doesnt float away.

Before Hollywood gets his six (back or tail) nailed and ejects with Wolfman, he calls out five bogeys in surprise from an earlier call of four bogeys from Slider. Iceman subsequently confirms the attack from five bogeys in desperation for help and repeats the message. Thereafter, Maverick appears and splashes three and Iceman splashes one for four defeated bogeys. However, not one but two bogeys "bug out." Wait, that amounts to six bogeys when five were in combat. How did a sixth bogey appear from nowhere when only five were in combat. (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

After Maverick and Iceman successfully splash four MiGs, Maverick requests a "Flyby" ("Victory Roll") to the Airboss. At the time, the plane call signs are "Voodoo." The Airboss denies the Victory Roll as "negative 'Ghostrider' the pattern is full" instead of "negative 'Voodoo' the pattern is full." (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

Three times in the movie, they use the word bingo to say I got him. ie. The beggining "Got 'em locked. Bingo"; the middle "Bingo, Mavericks dead"; and the end "Bingo! Launched that sucker, yea!" But BINGO in pilot terms means flight from the carrier to a shore base for any reason (usually occasioned by an emergency that prevented an airplane's normal recovery on board--which could be for fuel too low). (Thanks to PMciner for the info)

The main rear cockpit display in an F14 is a Tactial Information Display, not a PPI scope as indicated.

When Maverick and Goose first get to Top Gun the instructor says there are they to teach them to be less dependent on the use of missiles, yet in the final scene all they use are missiles. Not really a mistake but curious just the same. :)

When Maverick (or anyone else, for that matter) fires a missile he says "firing". However in reality each missile has a certain code name when launched. Eg. FOX ONE for semi-active radar-guided missile "sparrow"; FOX TWO for IR (infa-red) guided missile "sidewinders"; and FOX THREE fully and semi-active radar-guided missiles (not used in the movie). (Thanks to PMciner for the info)

The bad guys are always referred to as bogies, but a bogie is an unidentified aircraft. It can even be friendly. Bandit is used regarding an enemy plane. (Thanks to PMciner for the info)

In all of the scenes where you see the supposed heads up display, all of the graphic targeting markers are incorrect. The only plane that had a semi realistic marker was the jet flow by Viper when he was using cannons. Also real Heads Up Displays (HUD) , have airspeed indicators, compass readings, altimeters, and depending on weapons setting, range and percent effectiveness. The Heads Up Display (HUD) in the movie for the F14A was a green circle which turned red when the radar locked on. The objective in an actual F14A upon locking your radar on the bogey is to place the diamond symbol on the HUD in the center of the firing circle...the heart of the firing envelope.

In the scene where Maverick's Tomcat goes into a flat spin, it can clearly be seen that just prior to the spin as well as during the spin the plane is nowhere near any water. But as soon as Maverick & Goose eject from the plane they magically appear over water. The Top Gun training area is over a Californian desert, over 300 miles from the coast. When Maverick enters the flat spin, it is reported that he is "heading out to sea."

In the final battle, Maverick's Tomcat is launched from the USS Enterprise. The camera on the under-side of the aircraft shows it leaving the fore deck on catapult #1. Two shots later, the camera on the back of the F-14 shows it rolling with the aircraft carrier in the background. On the carrier's fore deck, covering catapult #1 and #2 are two rows of fighter planes. Therefore, that Tomcat had to have been launched from catapult #3 or #4. They used footage from two different aircraft launching at different times to represent Maverick's F-14. Of course we have to over look the fact that at least fifteen fighters were stowed on the deck during an emergency, three pilots were brought to the other side of the world to deal with a fairly simple problem when there were at least seventy pilots on the carrier already.

During the final battle, Willard and Simkins cannot be launched because cat's 3 and 4 are broken. Why couldn't they be launched from 1 or 2?

During the briefing for the final dog-fight, James Tolkan remarks that "those migs carry the Exocet anti-shipping missile". The Russians or North Koreans could not have had the Exocet missile. The Exocet is a French made missile and thus would not have been sold to those countries.

After class, Maverick jumps on his cycle and rides off in a huff. Charlie gets into her car and chases him down. In the very next scene Mav leaps his bike through an intersection. That front tire leaves the ground. Charlie runs the same intersection right behind him, apparently running a red light, as she almost causes an accident. When she pulls in behind Maverick, he starts barking about how the safety of his crew and plane come first. This is the same guy who went back out after Cougar without any gas, and against direct orders to land. The same guy who, on more that one occasion, did fly-by's, against direct orders from the control tower.(and once over an admirals daughter. yuk, yuk) Even I know what Negative-the-pattern-is-full means. I'm sure that safety was his foremost concern while giving the finger to an unknown Russian MiG from about 2 1/2-3 meter range, while in a 4G negative inverted dive, previously thought to be impossible before this. Ice is right. Maverick is more dangerous than the enemy. He's is an airborne accident waiting to happen. And here's the scariest part. Charlie sees real genius in his flying. :)

When Goose is in the water with Maverick and is obviously hurt, a rescue helicopter is sent out for them. There is NO WAY they would retrieve an obviously injured (neck injury at that) man up with only a strap under his arms, head flopping around even! That is why they have baskets in those birds for just that reason. Medical and rescue personnel are trained to treat all injured persons as living until a doctor at a proper facility declares them dead. They would have put him in a basket for the lift and would have continued CP all the way until he was rolled ino a hospital room and was turned over to a medical doctor.

When Maverick is chasing Viper and you see Viper going head-to-head, check the corners of the screen (standard, not wide-screen) and you will see a Leer jet used for filming. (Thanks to PMciner for the info)

In the final fight scene when the MIG shoots a second time at Iceman's F14A and HITS it again, Slider says "ITS OKAY BOTH Engines Are Functioning" the movie FORGETS that the earlier MIG SHOT OUT ONE of the TF-30 engines and that Slider had to SHUT IT DOWN to prevent further destruction of the plane. Thus, ONE TF-30 engine was DESTROYED, but it suddenly, even after full shut down, became FULLY operational and functioning in seconds is absolutely amazing. (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

When Maverick and Cougar separate when the MIGs do a "scissor spilt" (considered a very textbook aggressive manuever for engagement), and Maverick attempts to lock on to MIG 2, he turns his volume control knob dial "counterclockwise" which is the "opposite" direction. Thus, he would silence his Sidewinder so he would not hear it if he had locked on. (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

The markings on the supposed Mig-28 's were North Korean, but the Battle Group was in the Indian Ocean. There is a great distance between North Korea and the Indian Ocean so it would have been impossible for the Mig-28 's to go that far to engage a ship.

When Maverick goes to help Cougar, and comes in well below glide slope, radio control informs him to call the ball, the same voice responds roger ball. Cougar has removed all means of communication, by removing the strap on his helmet. Why would radio control respond to their own question?

Merlin says from the back seat "we're running low on gas'', and then taps the fuel guage in the front seat.

Ejection seats are built to be higher than the helmets of the crew. Goose's head would not have hit the canopy when his seat went off the rail. The top of the seat would have absorbed/deflected the force of impact and Goose would float safely to the ground. Also, the ejection process actually depressurizes the cockpit and then blows the canopy. It then fires the RIO's ejection seat right before the pilot goes out. Going just 200kts, the canopy would be a good hundred feet or more behind the aircraft when the RIO is rocketed at 15gs into the air. (Thanks to Jake Liberston for the info)

When Maverick tells Goose he cannot reach the ejection handle and that Goose needs to punch them out, this is impossible since the F14A had a GRU-7A ejection seat. It is activated either by pulling the dual handles at the top of the seat, which are connected to a face curtain,or by pulling up on the handle at the front center of the seat. This prevents exactly what Maverick claimed he could not do.(Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

U.S. Pilots never report an enemy plane as a MiG. They are required to say the NATO call sign for the appropriate aircraft, such as "Fishbed" for a MiG-21 or "Fulcrum" for a MiG-29.

Real navy pilots usually dont have customized helmets, they usually have uniform helmets with a design like that of the squadron logo, or drab white helmets with an external visor. This was inconsistent in top gun. For example, Cougar and Maverick were in the same squadron but Maverick and Cougar had different helmets. This would not happen in real life. Thanks to Raoul Manlapig for the info)

An F-14's tailhook is extended while supposedly descending to a land-based airstrip.

Maverick fires the same missile from the same wing station at least three times.

In the bar scene when Goose is playing "Great Balls of Fire," the movement of his hands does not match the music.

When Hollywood's plane is hit in the final fight, he ejects. However, the person that ejected is clearly a skydiver, as there is no chair, and "Hollywood" throws open his parachute. His parachute would automatically open.

The signal that Maverick is given before he takes off for the final fight scene is not the launch signal, but rather the "remove power" signal. This signal is given early in F-14 launch procedures, not right before launch.

Supposedly the final dogfight happens over water, yet a mountain is visible in the corner of one shot.

When Maverick and Goose are inverted giving the finger to the "mig 28", the lettering saying "Lt Pete Mitchell, Maverick" on the side of the F-14. This is a mirror image. Obviously the footage the filmmakers used was of an F-14 facing right, not left as the shot required. (submitted by Charlie Rotheram)

Maverick tells Charlie that his father disappeared in 1965 and his mother died shortly after. He also says that both parents loved the song "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. However this song was released in 1968.

If you look at the tail markings of most of the F-14's, the helmet markings, and the patches on their flight suits of Iceman and Slider it is a fist and a lightning bolt through it on a yellow background. This is the emblem of VFA-25 (The Fist of the Fleet), which only flies F-18 currently and at the time, A-7 corsair II's. It has never flown F-14's.

Also true is that Maverick's squadron patch is really that of an E-2C Hawkeye Squadron named VAW-110 Firebirds formerly based at NAS Miramar. They call Maverick's Squadron VF-1, when the real VF-1 is called the "Wolfpack" and they have a wolf emblem. and they call Iceman's squadron VF-213, when the real VF-213 are the "Black Lions" and they have a Black Lion on a blue circle as an emblem. (Thanks to Raoul Manlapig for the info)

Maverick and Goose have the same helmets with the markings of VF-51 "Screaming Eagles", (Distinctive for that squadron--eagle faces on the helmets) but Goose has VF-1 on his helmet which means both he and Maverick are from the "Wolfpack" squadron. VF-1 would not have eagle faces on their helmets but wolfs-preferably red wolfs. Both squadrons were part of the Pacific Fleet at the time.(Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

The Tomcat's Television Camera System, while being very accurate and visible, is black and white, not coloured. at least not in the F-14A. (Thanks to Raoul Manlapig for the info)

The Sidewinder doesn't lock on with a beeping tone, it locks on with a growl like a cat growling meow and when it finally locks theres a strong monotonous beep. (Thanks to Raoul Manlapig for the info)

In the final dogfight, they simply give them too little weapons that was most likely a barCAP (Combat Air Patrol) or tarCAP mission. In that type of situation they give you way more than just 2 Sparrows and 2 Sidewinders because that is a potential war situation. I think this should be stated because from what I have learned a barCAP and a TarCAP are not regular CAPs, they are especially dangerous situations and might lead to actual battle. (Thanks to Raoul Manlapig for the info)

When Cougar is asked to call the ball for the "glide path," this is incorrect, it is the "glide slope." When Cougar and Maverick call the "ball" which is also referred to in its full context as "meatball" it is the term for the circular ball of light in the optical landing system reflected up the glide slope when you are about to land on deck..(Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

There are numerous inconsistencies in locating the "bogey" both with directional guidance and from scene to scene in the photography at different altitudes and angles, especially when Maverick is supposed to be behind the bogey. In terms of directional guidance, a good example is when Merlin calls an "incoming bogey" at 27,000 feet, Strike tells Maverick and Merlin to adjust their flight pattern to "take angels 10...." which refers to an altitude of 10,000 feet. This change would allow the bogey to fly over them by 17,000 feet. The reference to "Angels" is a fighter direction brevity code word meaning altitude in thousands of feet (e.g. "Angels 10" means an assigned altitude of 10,000 feet).(Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

When Maverick is flying toward Iceman, he says he is flying at supersonic. However, later his plane is shown with the wings forward. At high speed, F-14 should have the wing toward the tail and usually additional small wings come out of the side of the mid-section.

CONTINUITY
Amount of ice in Maverick's glass in the airport bar.

When they do a close up on Charlie's legs when she's entering the classroom, she's wearing stilletto heels. Right afterward, when she's talking to Maverick on the parking lot, she's wearing flats. I'm guessing she would have been taller than Tom Cruise with the heels on.

Maverick leaves the vollyball game in a rush to get to dinner. He does not have on his belt. When he gets there he has one on. That takes talent to drive a motorcycle and put a belt on.

Charlie gains her folder when she leaves the ladies room.

During the final dogfight Maverick selects missles and is waiting for tone. As soon as he gets tone he selects missiles again and then fires.

When Maverick is doing his pre-flight visual, the plane he is inspecting is #104 (which Iceman already launched). When the alert 5 aircraft is launched with Maverick and Merlin, it is #114.

When Maverick fails to engage in training (after Goose's expiry), Jester & Viper stand by a plane. Viper's wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Jester says something like: Can't get back in the saddle, won't engage... and Viper says :Keep sending him up - as if by magic his glasses are now black-rimmed.

When Maverick pulls up to Charlie's house for the first date, there is nothing in her yard. When he leaves her house, the house is for rent.

In stairwell Iceman puts on watch twice.

In the bar scene at the airport just after Maverick has quit Top Gun, the waitress never comes back with Charlie's ice-water.

The lettering on the front of Sundown's helmet disappears once he and Maverick are back on the ground after their first flight together.

When Maverick and Goose eject, their visors are down and their masks are on. However, when they show them in the water goose's visor is up and his mask is off. (Thanks to FairmontST for the info)

Charlie is wearing a grey skirt in the classroom which turns black when she approaches Maverick on the motorbike.

In the first "hop" the "hard deck" is 10,000 feet. At the very beginning of the hop, they are mere feet over the desert floor. Throughout this time, dogfights abound between the aircraft, when all the time they are obviously well below the hard deck of 10,000 feet. As the fight continues, Jester decides to dive straight down, and Goose says, "He's going for the hard deck!" After Jester gets "killed," he tells them to, "Get [their] butts above the hard deck and return to base." (The "hard deck" rule is still in effect, for safety, after an exercise.)

Stinger's ribbons on his chest change.

In the ladies room scene Charlie loses the lipstick she was holding.

Maverick's hair during the elevator scene

When Maverick and Goose are in the bar talking to Iceman and Slider, Maverick puts a beer bottle up to his mouth. When they show him from the back it disappears and when they switch back to a front view it's there again.

The distance between the aircraft after Goose takes the picture.

The squadron markings on both Iceman and Maverick's Tomcats change a few times. Both of the original markings are not real Tomcats squadron markings.

Maverick's watch before and after the training flight.

Position of the wine bottle at Charlie's place.

Maverick's tailhook retracts too quickly when he decides to rescue Cougar. Additionally, is is subsequently visible in a later shot.

Charlie sits down on the counter in the ladies room without ever having stood up.

Iceman suddenly appears next to Wolfman in the locker room.

When "Charlie" drives Maverick, after Goose dies, the rear view mirror of her car keeps moving, with the different camera angles. In one shot, it is attached to the window, in another, it is on the window frame.

After Maverick and Charlie share a later afternoon lunch, Maverick gets up because he needs to go "take a shower". He walks off camera where, approximately 3 seconds later, you can hear his motorcycle start up and drive off. He must have sprinted to that motorcycle. He would have to grab his flight jacket, walk out of the house, and to his motorcycle! That takes longer than 3 seconds... He must really need a shower!

Goose comes back to life in the final dogfight scene. If you watch the backseat of the Tomcat during the takeoff and when they almost hit a Mig-28 and do a barrel roll, you can see that the helmet is now orange color. The same as Goose's helmet.

After defeating the migs and Maverick is congratulated for his efforts, the locker next to where he is packing up is labeled Goose. I guess no one decided to clean out his locker after the accident in Miramar or maybe the above point is correct. Goose is alive! ;).

Numerous positional inconsistencies during the volleyball game.

In the airport lounge as Charlie is leaving, notice her reflection in a glass case behind Cruise. Her reflection turns to leave. The next time she is on screen she is still facing Cruise.

The scene where Mav takes off after Charlie reems him is supposed to be at Miramar, but when she chases him, the hill where they run the red light is near the San Diego airport. These locations are about eight miles from each other. (submitted by dratc99)

In the launch scene where Mav is ready to takeoff to rescue Ice, the F-14 is shown powering up to full afterburner. However, did you notice that the aircraft's catapult launch bar is not hooked up to the catapult? Instead, the F-14 is taking off from a land based runway as the nosewheel begins to roll forward. Perhaps he's taking off at say, Miramar? (submitted by John Schieffer)

In the predawn scene when Mav and Goose are taxiing out to go fly with Ice before the ill-fated accident, notice the squadron insignia on the line of F-14s rolling out from parking. They are VF-1, "The Wolfpack." Not the ficticious squadrons used for Mav and Ice. Also in that scene, it sure did get pretty sunny rather quickly as they go to engage the instructor A-4s, it's quite bright, not dark like the predawn launch scene. Do you think they circled around for awhile to gain altitude? (submitted by John Schieffer)

In the bar scene, when Maverick, Goose, Charlie and Carole are singing "Great Balls of Fire," they are ALL wearing the same clothes as a scene from when Goose and Mav picked Goose's wife up at the airport a couple of days prior. I know coincidences happen, but for four people ... and let's not forget the kid, to all wear the same clothes a few days later is remarkable.

When the F-14 engines flame out before the flat spin, Goose exclaims, "Engine one is out," and the next scene shows the number two (right) engine "flaming out". When Goose exclaims "Engine two is out", we see the number one (left) engine "flaming out". (The flame outs are actually the engines being normally brought out of afterburner.)

Not only was Couger having problems with vertigo, he was having problems trying to land his Tomcat on the right carrier! The first shot shows the landing area of the USS Ranger at night, then after a few seconds it shows the USS Carl Vinson landing area. The problem with the Carl Vinson shot is that it was shot at day and they used a filter to simulate night.

When Maverick walks off the court and Goose follows to try to talk him into staying, Iceman has the ball. A split second later, Goose has the ball.

During the volleyball game Maverick looks at his watch several times, however his watch appears and disappears several times during the scene.

In the scene where Goose and Maverick are ordered into Viper's office. On the close shot there is a guy standing on Maverick's right, but in a wider shot he is suddenly standing to his left.

When Kelly McGillis gives Tom Cruise the note, the writing on the note changes from shot to shot. When she first hands it to him it seems there is a lot of writing on the paper, but in a close up shot, all you can see is her message asking him to meet her later at her house.

It seems quite strange that Mav's 2 flybys spill the coffee of the guy in Miramar's tower and that the same man is the air boss on board the USS Enterprise in the middle of the Ocean for the final mission in the film! (Thanks to Marc Dent for the info)

INTERESTING INFO:
Top Gun was released May 16 1986

Budget 12 million

$176 781 728 Top grossing film of 1986. Currently 39th highest grossing film of all time.

Val Kilmer did not want to be in this film, but was forced to by contractual obligations.

When charlie and maverick are in the bedrrom making out with the lights off it's because she died her hair red for the movie she was also making called The Accused with jodie foster. The scene was filmed after the movie was completed to spice up the relationship between Maverick and Charlie.

The scene with Maverick and Charlie in the ladies room of the local bar. In reality that restroom is a mens room in the USO building on the Recruit Training Base (Boot camp) in San Diego. The restroom now carries a brass plaque on the door simply reading "This restroom used in the filming of Top Gun."

The bar scenes with Goose, Mav, Charlie, & Carole, were shot in a little hole in the wall resturant called "The Kansas City Barbeque". It's located in downtown San Diego near the train depot. There is a sign stating that it was in the movie. The actual restaurant is VERY small. They have the piano that goose was playing & the jukebox has "That Loving Feeling" on it, but there is a small sign asking you not to play it. (submitted by dratc99)

Charlie's house is actaully in Oceanside, CA about 20 miles north of Miramar. It is located near the Oceanside Pier. One block south of South Pacific Street. The house is used as a rental. (submitted by Dratc99)

The Navy established "Top Gun" at the Miramar Naval Air Station in 1969. It was a four-week training course that provided Navy pilots instruction that simulated realistic combat conditions. In 1997, the Miramar Naval Air Base in San Diego changed hands from a Naval Air Station to a Marine airbase. The Top Gun school was moved to Fallon Naval Air Station, about 60 miles from Reno, Nevada.

During the final furball, Stinger orders, "Ready Willard and Simkin on cats 3 and 4," a reference to dogfight choreographer "Rat" Willard and casting director Marge Simkin.

Bryan Adams was asked to allow his song "Only the Strong Survive" on the soundtrack, but he refused because he felt that the film glorified war.

Art Scholl, stunt pilot, was killed doing an inverted flat spin for this film. His last transmissions, uttered at 3,000 and then 1,500 feet, were, "I've got a problem" and "I've really got a problem." It is speculated that camera equipment affixed to the plane altered its weight-and-balance envelope, making recovery from a flat spin (normally difficult in any case) impossible. The film is dedicated to his memory.

Several VF-111 (Sundowners) F-14A Tomcats were repainted with fictitious markings for the movie. VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" aviators are known to have taken part in the stunts. VF-1 "Wolfpack", VF-114 "Aardvarks" and VF-213 "Black Lions" were also involved in varying degrees. The planes were fitted with cameras mounted in pods attached to the phoenix pallets and pylons (under the wings), as well as using ground mounted cameras in the 1985 filming of Top Gun (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

The reference to each F-14 Tomcats' (plane) callsign as "Ghostrider" in the movie is a tribute to VF-142 the "Ghostriders." This squadron was disestablished in April 1995, due to budget cuts. (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

Kelly McGillis callsign was "Charlie" which among naval aviators refers to radio transmission meaning "return to the ship for recovery." The term is derived from the signal flag of the same name (designating the letter "c") which means carrier flight operations are being conducted. Accordingly, did Ms. McGillis know her callsign was for aviators to come to her for "recovery. (Thanks to John Raleigh for the info)

Matthew Modine was originally selected to play Maverick but he turned the part down.

Anthony Edwards, Michael Ironside, and Rick Rossovich all went on to roles in the ER t.v. series. Edwards: Dr. Mark Green, Ironside: Dr. William "Wild Willy" Swift, Rossovich: Dr. John "Tag" Taglieri.

The back of Maverick's jacket has a patch that says "Last Cruise".

Tom Cruise is an inch too short to be a Navy pilot (minimum height 5'8", based on minimum sitting height 32" and minimum leg length 36").

Charlie's "older man" date at the oak club was actually a teacher at Top Gun at the time. He was the consultant on the film.

SOURCES:
James Lawrence's Top Gun Site
Top Gun: The Movie Fan Site
The Internet Movie Database
The Nitpickers Site

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