Top Gun Exposed: Onset Secrets They Didn’t Want Out

Mighty Mistakes

Despite the involvement of the U.S. Navy in the script and cockpit talk, the movie is apparently riddled with inaccuracies and outright wrongs when it comes to jet flight and the U.S. Navy. So much so that the website The Mighty has a page listing 79 of the errors!

A sampling of the errors listed the following complaints: There is no such thing as the Top Gun trophy. Topgun is actually one word. A pilot who showed up to a flight brief wearing a cowboy hat would have his or her wings pulled on the spot. Maverick “hits the brakes” by forward pushing the throttles, which would increase power, not decrease it. Although the character of Goose says “[expletive], we got a flameout. Engine 1 is out” the RIO has no engine instruments in the rear cockpit of the F-14.

The Cast Lived it Up

In order to help conjure up the feeling of comradery, the cast was encouraged to hang out together, and head out on long nights of partying during the San Diego-area shoot. Kilmer mentions in the Top Gun DVD commentary that, “I remember it being one giant weekend, as far as making the thing.”

San Diego is a beautiful place full of hot spots; there are bays, a thriving downtown area, and hundreds and hundreds of beach town bars and restaurants and dance floors where groups of people looking for a good time could easily find one. Among some of the places they might have hung out are Coronado Island (the bridge to Coronado is pictured above), the bars of Pacific Beach or Ocean Beach, the restaurants of La Jolla, or anywhere along the Encinitas shoreline.