The hardware
Every aircraft that flies — or sits on the deck — in Top Gun, and the part it plays. Tap through to its full profile.
◎ F-14
F-14 Tomcat
Maverick and Goose's jet — the star of the film
◎ A-4
A-4 Skyhawk
The instructors' adversary jets — Jester and Viper fly them
◎ F-5
F-5 Freedom Fighter / Tiger II
The black 'MiG-28' — no such jet exists, these are Navy F-5s
◎ F-4
F-4 Phantom II
Maverick's father, Duke Mitchell, flew Phantoms over Vietnam
◎ A-6
A-6 Intruder
On the carrier deck around the Tomcats
◎ A-7
A-7 Corsair II
On the carrier deck in the flight-ops scenes
◎ E-2
E-2 Hawkeye
The radar plane on deck — the eyes of the carrier group
◎ SH-3
SH-3 Sea King
The rescue helicopter that pulls Maverick out of the sea after Goose dies
What you might not know
- 01
Directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, it opened on 16 May 1986 — and became the highest-grossing film of the year, at about $357 million worldwide.
- 02
The 'MiG-28' never existed. The enemy jets were US Navy Northrop F-5s painted black, flown by real adversary pilots.
- 03
The flying was real: F-14s from Navy squadrons, filmed aboard the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Ranger and over NAS Miramar, the real home of TOPGUN.
- 04
Aerial camera pilot Art Scholl died during filming in 1985, when his camera plane failed to recover from a flat spin off the California coast. The film is dedicated to him.
- 05
'Take My Breath Away' by Berlin won the Oscar for Best Original Song; Kenny Loggins' 'Danger Zone' became the sound of every afterburner take-off since.
- 06
The Navy set up recruiting tables at some cinemas, and the number of young men applying to become naval aviators rose sharply after the release — so did sales of Ray-Ban Aviators.