Top gun the movie- where are they now?

[bipe215]

The 'hit the brakes' thing has been around in one form or another since people started tailchasing in airplanes. From chopping power and skidding like crazy to 'the maverick'.

[TonyM]

I won't go into Pearl harbor, but Top Gun was a fun movie. Accurate, not really, but it was fun. It's a great flick. If you want to see a documentary check out the History channel.

I'm sorry; I know--this can be a problem when I watch an aviation movie. It drives my wife nuts. "It's only a movie".

But I am really sorry about dragging the thread off topic. It was bound to happen some time.
I said what I said, and now it's all this.
Sorry about that.

TonyM.

[maxum96]

Well I know it's not an airplane, but the dive bar where Goose and Maverick sung "great balls of fire" just burned down last week.



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080626-1637-bn26fire2.html

[Jesse C.]

Well I know it's not an airplane, but the dive bar where Goose and Maverick sung "great balls of fire" just burned down last week.



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080626-1637-bn26fire2.html

Trust me, not a big loss except that it will be one less tourist trap around. Lousy food! Just the interior was gutted and there is already talk of rebuilding it. Maybe they will also work on the food!

I remember when it came out and all we really wanted to see is how many landmarks we could spot in the movie! But, two of my friends actually joined the Navy because of this movie. I just bought me a pair of sunglasses and a big watch!

It would have been cool if one of those birds would have ended up here in San Diego, but hey, why be greedy, we still have Miramar!

Color Me Gone!

Jesse

[JOHN MILLER]

PCAM museum in NO. CA. has a A model Tomcat here is the link

http://www.pacificcoastairmuseum.org/20 ... home.aspIt was even used in one of JAGS episodes. It was flown to museum from TOP GUN, miramar or PT. Magu????

JOHN

[maxum96]

It would have been cool if one of those birds would have ended up here in San Diego, but hey, why be greedy, we still have Miramar!

Color Me Gone!

Jesse

I grew up in Tierrasanta which is next to the flight path for Miramar. I loved growing up in the 70's and 80's watching the F4's, A4's, A6's FA-18's, and of course the F-14's going around the pattern. One of our neighbors was killed in a crash of an F-14 right after the Navy got them in the 70's. It crashed up at Miramar at night and lit the whole sky up. Our next door neighbor was a Navy test pilot and finished up his flying career working for NASA and flying SR-71's. Unfortunately Miramar is now a MCAS. I was sorry to see the Topgun school and Navy planes leave.

[Connery]

As I'm sure that most of (if not all of you ) know that a lot of the flying sequences were done with large scale ducted fan RC models. I was just getting into RC aircraft back then and was also in Air Force tech school at the time and remember all of the great stories in the RC model publications at the time of the models that were built for the movie. I ran across a large scale F-14 model hanging up in a hobby store in Dallas a few years back and was told that it was one that was used in the movie.

[Nathan]

Give me the Tomcats in "The Final Countdown" any day. Sci Fi story, but well done with minimal special effects - and a great way to document that slice of carrier ops and paint schemes in naval aviation history - I feel the same way about "The Bridges at Toko-Ri". I wish someone would film another aviation movie with real planes and few computerized add-ins.

We need to have "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" starring the C-130 crews of Iraq & Afghanistan!

Ken

haha I was thinking the same thing "The Final Countdown" is way better and more accurate then Top Gun.

I have received Top Gun as a present 3 or 4 times in my life. Each time I throw it in the trash.

And Pearl Harbor?

[corsair166b]

Top Gun is still fun after all these years....can't believe its over 20 years old now and everything from the movie has been retired....

Having picked up 'Final Countdown' over t5he holidays, the F-14/Zero scenes are amazing and look like they were shot yesterday!! Even a friend of mine commented how recent they looked, and the movie was from the early 80's! Corny, but some good flying...

And no arguing that the Kate in Pearl Harbor looks just FINE to me...

Mark

[Paddy]

How many pilots fly jet air combat or any other jet fighter flying with the O2 mask dangling off to one side? Kid fun, yes but not very realistic.

Not only the O2 mask but the shoulder harness not connected in the Skyhawk that rolled when going through wake turbulence

[Moonlight]

Another quick fact associated with the flat spin scene where Goose is killed: Art Scholl, the famed aerobatic performer, was flying his Pitts w/ a camera mounted on it when he entered an inverted flat spin in order to get that footage for the movie, and wasn't able to recover from it. He crashed into the Pacific, and his body was never recovered.

[Obergrafeter]

Which "Kate" are you refering to? There were at least three different ones on the carrier deck....................oh you mean the other British one.

[p51]

I was in Air Force Junior ROTC when the movie came out and one of the pilots, CDR Denny Broska, came to the local airshow we were working at Tallahassee, Florida, with one of the F-14s supposedly he used in the movie. I reemmber asking about the "canopy to canopy" shot, and he swore they'd actually filmed it and got that close, but they couldn't keep up that distance for more than a few seconds and the camera geeks could never get a good shot of them doing it. After a few tries, they gave up and used the split screen. He said he was pretty ticked because his pilot buddies gave him crap about he couldn't really do it, when he knew he could, and had, several times.

The actors actually flew in the F-14's for some time.

Maybe some of them got to go up, but I know for a fact Tom Cruise did not. He wanted to, and the Navy would have likely been fine with it, but the producers said heck no, because if something had gone wrong, their movie would have crashed (pun intended). I got that personally from Tom Cruise himself a few years ago!

Another quick fact associated with the flat spin scene where Goose is killed: Art Scholl, the famed aerobatic performer, was flying his Pitts w/ a camera mounted on it when he entered an inverted flat spin in order to get that footage for the movie, and wasn't able to recover from it. He crashed into the Pacific, and his body was never recovered.

I never knew that. I found more data on that here: http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Scholl.htm

[Cubs]

This thread started out as where are the aircraft now and ended up with tidbits of info of the movie and opinions of "Top Gun".... does that mean it is o.k. for me to give my opinion??

I thought the opening sequence was fantastic. The classroom scene in the hangar to me was pretty funny. But the rest stunk. I don't mind some of the technical inconsistencies. the adversary F-5 as a MiG and so on. Movies to me are about good actors, good plot and story line, which this movie had none. For instance: Iceman, how did he get that
title? Every flying scene he either sounds like some kid riding a ride at the county fair or he is being chased by a mad bear. Some "Iceman".
I could go on a big rant about a lot of other scenes. I'd rather watch "Twelve O'clock High" with Gregory Peck. Oh, one final thing... why does Hollywood think that foul language makes for a better movie? I won't watch Top Gun just because of what the Air Boss had a penchant for saying.

[Robbie Roberts]

Oh, one final thing... why does Hollywood think that foul language makes for a better movie? I won't watch Top Gun just because of what the Air Boss had a penchant for saying.

What? You think we angels in the military don't swear? Every other %$*&ing word it seems!

Robbie